Days passed and Jiyong and Dara talking to each other every night has become their routine, also Dara falling asleep. Dara has become fully comfortable with Jiyong. They talked about literally everything like the usual whatever the moon offers. 

 

"Dara? Dara?”

 

Dara fell asleep in the middle of a phone call with Jiyong. She bit her lower lip and cleared . 

 

“Yes…” she said softly.

 

“Hahaha! You fell asleep, am I right?” Jiyong said on the other line while laughing. 

 

“I’m sorry…I’m really not good with phone conversations.” 

 

“It’s okay. I expected that this would happen. Hahaha!” 

 

Dara smiled inwardly and rolled on the other side of the bed. She peeked on the clock and it’s already four o’clock in the morning. She gasped and she heard Jiyong laughed on the other line. 

 

“You’ve been sleeping for like… five hours?” Jiyong said. 

 

“Oh no! Did you stay on the line for five hours?!” 

 

“Hmmm… kinda.” 

 

“Aren’t you sleepy yet?! Why didn’t you just hang up?!” 

 

“Hey, calm down! I was about to, but I heard you snoring…” 

 

She suddenly felt embarrassed, because she never let anyone hear her snoring aside from her best friends.  She feels like little by little, Jiyong is finally getting into her world - the world that slowly she opens up. 

 

“You should go to sleep now,” Dara said. 

 

“Are you gonna be okay?” 

 

“Huh? Of course. I should be the one asking you that.” 

 

“I’m okay, knowing that the last person I talked to is you…” 

 

Dara giggled like a child. “You’re a flirt you know that? Go to sleep now, Kid.” 

 

“The kid that Sandara Park… love?” 

 

“Oh wow. The confidence is pretty high. You’re just sleepy… like drunk sleepy… you should go to sleep now. I’ll hang up the phone…” 

 

“Hehehe, okay! Night…love…” Jiyong hangs up the phone leaving Dara with a flushed face and a pounding heart. It has been three weeks and her relationship with Jiyong is still unknown, but she doesn’t want to rush everything. She’s enjoying every bit of it, feeling the moments they’ve been sharing and also getting to know Jiyong more. 

 

But the only thing that still bothers her is the students in their school eyeing her and Jiyong whenever they are together which all the time is, and giving them a thumbs up and sometimes taking a picture of them. Even strangers that they passed by recognizing them but they just ignore them. Jiyong takes ‘full’ responsibility of what is happening. But there is a certain person that Jiyong can’t handle – Dara’s best friend, Chaerin. 

 

And as she remembers Chaerin, she also remembers that they’ll be hanging out today because it’s weekend. She immediately messaged their group conversation. 

 

Good Morning! –Dara 
I’ve been waiting for your text. –Panda 
What??? So you’ve been awake? –Dara 
I’m actually on the way. Jiyong just texted me that you just woke up. Kekeke –Panda 
SEUNGRI!!! When did you and Jiyongtexted each other?! –Dara 
Well, you know him. You know him too well. –Rin 
Chae’s still bitter you know. –Panda 
Because guys, I’m always telling you… if this ‘LOVE’ thing creates a drama and will cause your sanity (Dara I’m talking to you) to lose forever, I’m outta here. –Rin 
Hey, I’m not rushing everything okay? Jiyong’s just too expressive. Just let him be. –Dara 
Oh yeah, what a good reasoning… just let him be.Okay, Dara! –Rin 
Woah Woah! Guys! Save that for later will ya? We’ll enjoy playing on the amusement park! –Panda 
Stop being mad at me, Chae-chae! Love ya, see you guys later! –Dara 
Whatevah. Love ya too. –Rin

 

Dara threw her phone on the bed and heaved a heavy sigh. Chaerin is really hard to please, but that is good for her since she knows very well to herself that she always do stupid things and Chaerin is always prepared and ready to help Dara to start anew. Chaerin is like her mom, very protective and ready to give all her needs. So she’s very thankful that whenever Chaerin rants, it means she still cares about her. 

 

As she prepares for breakfast, she opened the television to have a background while she’s doing her stuff. She noticed that she have no chocolate drink left, she groaned and contacted Seungri. 

 

Hey, Baby Panda! Can you buy a chocolate drink on the way here? –Dara 

 

I can’t because I’m actually here. –Panda 

 

Suddenly her doorbell rang and she immediately assumed it was Seungri so she ran and opened the door. 

 

“You’re too early,” Dara remarked. 

 

“I have to take a nap first, I need to preserve energy,” Seungri said as Dara opened the gate. 

 

“Aww did you tire too much on your work? You’re losing weight.” Dara said as he massaged Seungri’s back. 

 

Seungri plopped on the couch and switch the channel. Dara went straight to the kitchen. 

 

“Well, our producer has so many demands, and everyone’s like on vacation leave. I can’t still file a vacation leave since I’m not yet regular.” 

 

“Aww, poor Baby Panda. So, is radio fun?” 

 

“Hmm yeah, kinda. It’s actually boring but also toxic since we don’t have break time, just shifting. So we need to eat really fast, I can’t savor the food that much. That’s why I’m losing weight.” 

 

“Here. Just forget about work.” Dara handed a cup of coffee. 

 

“Thanks.” Seungri sipped from it and focused his eyes on the television. Dara watched his best friend thinking how Seungri got so old too fast because of stress from work and how tiring he looked like. She misses the Seungri who is more playful and talkative. 

 

It’s been so long since she thought sincerely about her best friends. She was always grateful for them, it’s just that being depressed for a long time, being a young lady trying to hide in the dark ever since her major heart break, made her ignore everything, even the little things that people do for her, so she only realized that there are the best friends she can always count on, and never gave up on her. It’s like she finally realized that a certain person made her go out from the dark she’s been hiding – Jiyong. 

 

Dara was done taking a shower and she’s already in her amusement park attire, a plain white shirt and ripped jeans. When she went downstairs, Seungri was fast asleep on the couch with his feet on the floor and still holding the remote control. Dara slowly took away the remote control from Seungri and was about to turn off the tv, but someone in the commercial caught her eye. She leaned closer to the television and squint her eyes to make sure that what she’s seeing is a familiar face. 

 

It was the tall guy with a professional camera who took a photo of her and Jiyong while lying on the ground. She clearly remembers him because of his posture and white complexion of skin and also she really stared at him intently. She just shook her head and thought that the guy is a commercial model. 

 

When she turned off the tv, Seungri suddenly woke up like he fell on his dreams. Dara laughed at him and played with his hair which he immediately fixed. 

 

“You had a good nap?” 

 

“Yeah… I dreamed that we were riding the roller coaster and I fell from the sky. Oh no, I don’t want to ride anymore…” Seungri said with a fright in his tone. 

 

“Well, there’s still the Ferris wheel and carousel…” 

 

“No Ferris wheel, yes carousel!” Seungri remarked and stretched his arms. Dara shook her head and smiled inwardly. 

 

“Who’s ready for a haunted house?!” Chaerin suddenly barged in which made Seungri and Dara jumped in surprise. Chaerin sat beside Seungri and played on his hair. 

 

“So, we’re good to go now?” Chaerin asked while chewing a bubble gum. Seungri scoots away and rested his legs on Chaerin’s lap which she immediately slapped away. 

 

“Can we rest for a minute or two? You just came here.” Seungri complained as he leaned on the backrest. 

 

“So, Dara…” Chaerin seriously asked Dara straightened her back while she’s fixing her bag for she knows what comes next. 

 

“Are you dating that guy?” Chaerin glared at her. 

 

“Who? Jiyong? No.” Dara simply replied still not turning her back to face Chaerin.

 

“Not yet.” Seungri corrected. Dara turned her head and scowled at him. 

 

“Please, I don’t mind if that guy is flirty, just don’t take his bait. You’re an adult, you know better than him, alright? You should focus more on your studies and then build a career and then love life will follow.”

 

When Dara finally has done fixing her things, she sat in between of Seungri and Chaerin then rested her hands on their shoulders. 

 

“I know that mom. Jiyong also knows better, he won’t do anything that could hurt me.” Dara said softly. 

 

“The guy clearly likes her. You know guys if they really like this person, they will dedicate their time and effort to that person only.” Seungri interjected. 

 

“But, not everyone.” Chaerin raised her brow and Seungri gave him a playful look because she had an ex-boyfriend who had an affair with her classmates, that’s why Chaerin has learned her lesson already. 

 

Dara tapped their backs and stood up. “Alright, that’s enough! The sun is rising, we should go now!” then they immediately stood up and went straight down.  

 

 

 

 

After a long drive, the three of them finally set foot on the amusement park. The place is already busy even if it’s still early, making them more excited. 

 

As they enter the gate, a photographer wearing polo in a sunset-like color and white knee length shorts, beckoned them to stop and smile for he will take a souvenir photo. They smiled and then Dara suddenly recognized the photographer. 

 

When the photographer checked their picture, he gave them a thumb up. 

 

“You can claim your picture on that booth.” He said and pointed to a certain direction. Chaerin claimed the stub and Seungri bowed his head thanking him. But Dara just stood in front of him. 

 

The photographer looked down because Dara is shorter than him and stared at her intently. 

 

“You’re that guy!” Dara exclaimed. Seungri and Chaerin stopped and turned their back. The photographer smiled confusingly at her. 

 

“What do you mean, miss?” he simply replied. 

 

“You’re that guy from the school who took a photo of us!” He tilted his head and stared at her quizzically. “I’m a student from De Vigri and something happened… I was the girl who was on top of one of the students’ and you took a photo of us!” Dara added. 

 

“Dara let’s go.” Chaerin hissed and pulled her arm, but Dara wiggled free still staring on the photographer. 

 

“Oh! I remember. Well, I was looking for an interesting subject that time for my photography class. I’m a photography student. Thank you, because I got the highest score.” He smiled. 

 

“Well yeah, also because of you why everyone in the school is noticing me.” 

 

“I’m sorry? Isn’t that a good thing? Well, I have a work to do, excuse me.” He went to the entrance as another guest came in and he took a picture of them, leaving Dara dumbfounded.  Chaerin pulled her then Seungri clings on her arm. 

 

“What’s the big deal? It was a week ago.” Chaerin said.

 

“Yeah! And I really want to see him to ask him to delete the picture.” Dara complained.

 

“But, even if he deleted it, there are other students who took a photo of you so… that’s still won’t do.” Seungri interjected. 

 

“But his shot was high quality and that picture was plastered all over the campus for the whole week! That was really annoying. Thank the heavens because the school has finally boiled down from that event.” Dara said exasperatedly. 

 

“We talked about this Dara, just ignore it. See? A week had passed and it seemed like nothing happened. Just forget about it.” Chaerin said as she rested her arm on her shoulders. Dara turned her head to see the guy once again who is working so hard and scowled at him. 

 

The first ride they went to was the carousel as per Seungri’s request. Chaerin is riding the horse with a bored expression while Dara is taking a picture of Seungri’s picture. He’s like a little kid who had his first time riding the carousel. After that ride, Seungri requested the tea cup ride, Dara just laughed at him because of his ride choices, but Chaerin wants more extreme so she disagrees and pulled him by the roller coaster. 

 

“NO!!! LET ME GO!!! SIR PLEASE!!!” Seungri found himself sitting on the front row of the roller coaster ride; he pulled the assistant’s arm and pleaded for his life. Dara and Chaerin laughed at him hysterically. 

 

When the roller coaster accelerated, Seungri suddenly passed out while the girls just enjoyed the ride, raising up their arm and laughing out loud. 

 

 

 

When they got off the roller coaster, Seungri ran towards the comfort room and vomit. 

 

“He’s such a baby,” Chaerin said while laughing. Dara just shook her head and sipped from the lemonade that she bought. As Chaerin fanned them, Dara roamed around her eyes and then she saw a familiar person riding on the swan lake. She squints her eyes and then realized it was Jenny and she studied who was sitting beside her.

 

“JEN, TABI!!!” Dara shouted. When Jen turned her head and saw Dara, she widened her eyes and not sure of what to do. Tabi hid his face with his jacket. But Dara scowled at them, she fished out her phone from her pocket and texted Jen. 

 

“Don’t try to hide now! I can totally see you from here.” –Dara 

 

Dara eyed them and Jen looked at her phone. She just bowed down her head and gave Dara an apologetic smile. 

 

“They’re dating?” Chaerin asked. 

 

“Yeah. She didn’t tell me anything about this, but now I caught them. HAH!” Dara said while sticking out her tongue on Jen and Tabi. Jen just shook her head and smiled, while Tabi waved stupidly at her. 

 

Finally, Seungri went out the comfort room with disgust on his face. 

 

“I don’t feel good now. I told you I don’t want to ride!!!” Seungri slightly slapped Chaerin’s arm and she immediately slapped back.  

 

“C’mon! Stop being a crybaby! When we were in high school you’re the one who always pushes us to ride extreme rides! And now you’re acting like a child!” Chaerin said. 

 

Seungri just scowled at her while holding on his stomach. Dara offered her lemonade, but Seungri gently refuses. 

 

Chaerin who is still full of energy decided to go to Haunted House. Seungri half-heartedly agreed since it’s still better than riding a roller coaster. But on the other side,

 

Dara is shivering in fright. It was a long walk inside the haunted house and it’s so quiet. Chaerin is just laughing because of the two children clinging onto her. 

 

When they opened a door, the room is full of patients. Some are just walking like a zombie, some are wailing and some are sniffing them. 

 

“Hey, they’re just actors.” Chaerin reminded them, Dara’s grip on Chaerin’s arm tightened. When they stood in front of the room, that’s where the craziness starts. An ambulance started reverberated on the room which made them all jumped in surprise. Red lights started to flicker and the patients ran around like a maniac. Seungri ran faster and Chaerin followed, but suddenly Dara’s grip on Chaerin’s arm loosened so she stumbled on the floor. She tried to follow them but, her knees are trembling so hard in fright, so she just covered her ears and shut her eyes firmly and cried out loud. 

 

When finally Seungri and Chaerin reached the exit, they were panting so hard at the same time laughing at each other. 

 

“You totally break loose from there!” Chaerin exclaimed while still catching her breath. Seungri just laughed and shook his head.  They were totally oblivious on Dara’s absence; they immediately went to the souvenir booth to claim their picture from the haunted house. As soon as they got the picture, they checked it and laughed at it. Chaerin’s eyes flickered like a cat’s eye, while Seungri’s face when he ran was priceless. They laughed at themselves, but when they saw Dara on the picture with her surprised reaction, they also laughed at it, and then from there they finally noticed that Dara is not with them. 

 

Inside, other guests passed by Dara who is crying like a lost child in the middle of the floor, they thought she was just part of the actors. Some actors are starting to get worried for her, some attempted to assist her but, their appearance is so scary because of the prosthetics so Dara just pushed them away and cries even more. 

 

And then, a person holding a flashlight came into the room and focused the light on Dara. She cried louder because she thought it was some kind of another gimmick. But that person immediately went beside her and held her arms which then she jerked back. 

 

“Hey, hey! Don’t worry I will assist you to go out. I’m the photographer!” he said and Dara slowly lifted her head to look on his face. Then he scooped her up like a rag doll and immediately walked away. The actors cheered on them and even clapped their hands because finally the scared girl has been saved. 

 

 

 

While on their way to the exit, Dara buried her face on his chest because she is still afraid. The guy just laughed and then Dara scowled at him. 

 

“I never thought that a grown up lady like you would be so afraid of that kind of gimmick.” He said. 

 

“Well, I’m sorry I’m not that brave!” Dara exclaimed. When she finally sees a light which is the exit, her best friends are jumping up and down in joy. The guy slowly put her down and fixed his polo. 

 

 

 

Chaerin hugged her while Seungri patted her head. 

 

“Look at your face! Your eyes are so red and it’s swollen!” Chaerin said and hugged her even more like she is her own child. 

 

“You cried too much didn’t you?” Seungri jokingly said but Chaerin slapped his shoulder. The guy who saved Dara cleared his throat and was about to make his way out. 

 

“Thank you, bro, for saving this little child,” Seungri said as he played on Dara’s hair. 

 

“Well… I heard a really ugly cry so I came to check and stop it. Turns out an old lady crying was causing the commotion.” He jokingly said which Seungri laughed out loud with him. 

 

“What’s your name?” Chaerin asked. 

 

“I’m Jihoon.” He said and bowed down his head. “Sorry, I need to go back to work. Enjoy!” he said and then walked away. Dara called out his name, “Jihoon!” 

 

He turned his back and cocked his eyebrows. 

 

“Thanks!” Dara beamed and gave him thumbs up. Jihoon smiled back and waved bye. 

 

 

 

 

It was already dark when they went back to the apartment. Chaerin decided to sleep over because she was too tired to go home. 

 

Dara is lying on the couch eating a potato chip while watching her favorite drama, while Seungri is cooking their dinner. 

 

Dara took a picture of her and sent it to Jiyong just to update him. 

 

Jiyong also sent a picture of his feet and a television. He’s also watching the same show Dara is watching. Dara giggled and then Jiyong called her. She smiled at it and immediately answered the call. 

 

“Heeeey…” Dara said softly. 

 

“How’s your day?” 

 

“Tired of crying…”

 

“What?! Why did you cry?!” 

 

“Well, my two great best friends left me in the haunted house so I had just a mental breakdown.” Dara laughed. 

 

“So how did you get out? You must be so scared.” 

 

“Well, Jihoon helped me. You know he’s studying also in De Vigri. He’s the one who took a photo of us. I think he also has a part-time job in the amusement park.” Dara said enthusiastically. 

 

“If I were there, I would be the one to save you,” Jiyong said flatly. 

 

“Of course, I know that. But you know he’s so tall! I could barely see his face I really had to look up to see his face. He also has a deep voice like Tabi.” Dara heard Jiyong sighed exasperatedly on the other line. 

 

“Hey, are you okay? I know that sound.” 

 

“Huh? No, no. I’m fine.” Jiyong said lazily. Dara bit her lower lip and not sure what to say, he knows too well that Jiyong is starting to get jealous. She didn’t mean it to be that way; she was just telling him that what a small world that someone from their school would save her and not a total stranger. She was just sharing her day. 

 

“Oh, by the way! I saw Jen and Tabi dating! They rode the swan lake. When they saw me, the look on their faces was priceless.” Dara laughed awkwardly hoping to hear Jiyong’s enthusiastic remarks. But the other line is him breathing, there’s no any reaction or whatsoever. 

 

“Oh, that’s good.” He said flatly. “Uhh I gotta go now, my mom’s calling us for dinner so… yeah, bye.” Before Dara could say anything back, he hangs up the phone leaving Dara dumbfounded. She just checked her facebook and scroll aimlessly. 

 

 

Suddenly, there’s a message request on her messenger. She checked it and then an account named, “Ji Pyo” sent a bunch of pictures of them from the amusement park. She scrolled through his message and there’s like a hundred of photos. 

 

She accepted the message and also without thinking twice, she sent him a friend request. In just a second, Jihoon already accepted her friend request. He then immediately sent her a message.

 

Wow. Thanks!
No, thank you! I never thought we would have this bunch of pictures. Thank you!
Well, I’m just sending it to you for free for compensation. 
Compensation for what? 
For the pictures that I plastered on the school. 
Oh. Forget about it. 
Oh okay so please pay me for those pictures I sent you.
What? :D You’re kidding, right?
Nope. Kekeke.

 

Dara spent her night talking with Jihoon. They’re having a good time since Jihoon jokes around. It was Dara’s first time to be comfortable around someone who she just met. 

 

 

 

On Jiyong’s room, he’s scanning through Dara’s pictures. He suddenly had realizations that he’s too young for her, he can’t handle her. Dara has already experienced what he’s been going through, so he doesn’t know how to explain himself to Dara. He needs to explore more to know himself, he thinks that he’s not enough for her who already been through toughest time. Dara needs a man and not a boy like him who has no experience in relationships. He can’t take it to the next level.