Dara is losing her mind. Jiyong was supposed to meet her at the YG lobby an hour ago. She paced around the lobby, checking her phone every once and a while. The ’s phone has been unreachable as well. Dara’s  guess? He turned it off after she tried calling him 20 times.

“Aish, that is going to be late for his own Inkigayo performance.” Dara thought out loud, while biting her nails. Calculating the time they have left, Dara thinks they can still make it, permitting the traffic is not so bad. Taehee has been asking her non-stop about Jiyong’s whereabouts and she can’t give him a concrete answer. Dara pulls at her hair in frustration.

What do I do???

Dara has been Jiyong’s personal assistant/pretend girlfriend for 3 months. All she can say is her stress level is up to her eyes, but the pays pretty well.  Speaking of finances, she is still behind two months on her rent because her mother had an emergency. By emergency, her mother meant overdue credit card bills. Dara’s omma had a habit of going beyond her living expenses and asking for Dara’s rescue. Being the kind-hearted daughter that she is, Dara had been used to setting aside her own bills for her omma’s sake.  She was counting on her coming paycheck, which would atleast cover 75% of her pending payment. Dara made a mental note of reminding Jiyong to pay her. Jiyong seems to always forget since he pays her in cash – some snoopy people might check on her cashflow and become suspicious; Jiyong really thought the pretend girlfriend business through.

While Dara was busy thinking, the man everyone was looking for came through the door. He was unkempt, probably came straight from an all-night party. He came straight for Dara.

“Come, Taehee’s waiting outside, we’ll be late.” Jiyong addressed Dara hurriedly, while tapping his foot impatiently on the floor.

“Late? Who’s fault is that now?” Dara replied, trying to hold back a string of curses. It’s the first time she’s seeing Jiyong in two days and she already wants to kill him with her bare hands.

Cool down, Dara. You need his money, he can’t die just yet. She told herself repeatedly to keep herself calm. Meanwhile, Jiyong just turned his back to her and hurried outside to his car. This day is going to be another long one for Dara.

--

Dara watched on the side of the stage where she is obscured from the camera. Jiyong always asks her to stay near when he’s performing which unknowing people found really endearing and sweet. But in reality, he asked her to do that in case he needs water or a towel or just about anything his spoiled could think of. Jiyong was performing Crooked and as much as she wants to hate everything about the man, she can’t help but admire him from afar. He was wearing a plain white shirt with a black leather jacket on top and ripped jeans. He was clinging to the mic stand while his left foot makes stomping motions. He is a sight to behold when performing. Dara didn’t notice that was slightly open, probably her body’s way of responding to the awe-inpiring sight before her eyes.

“Take it easy, you’re drooling.” Taehee remarked with a chuckle.

“Drool, what?!” Dara replied, flustered and surprised. “Oh it’s you, when did you get there?”

“Just a few minutes. You were too busy ogling over your guy you barely noticed.”

“My guy, err– oh, yeah. You know, there are a lot of fangirls here. Better make them see that Jiyong is mine, hehe.” Dara felt a bit embarrassed telling Taehee those lies. He’s such a sincere and nice guy. She almost slipped up and told him the truth because, for the life of her, she really can’t see Jiyong as boyfriend material.  She’d rather die by firing squad than be his girlfriend.

“Well, here comes your man.”

Jiyong approached both of them, one hand patting the sweat off of his forehead. He immediately approached Dara, stretching out his hand for a towel. Then his eyes flicked towards Taehee, recognizing the need to act nice to the weirdo.

“Baby, can I have a towel? I’m all sweaty. “ He said with his most dazzling smile directed towards Dara. It almost looked real.

“Okay, I’m gonna leave you lovebirds for now. Call me when we’re heading out, Ji.” Taehee said with a smile on his face that says he really can’t stand cheesy couples.

“Towel?” Jiyong redirected his attention to the small girl beside him, one eyebrow raised.

“Here, your highness.” Dara remarked, with a sarcastic bow. She also handed him a bottle of water and his favourite sandwich. While Jiyong was busy wiping his face, Dara remembered asking him about her salary for the month.

“Uhm, Jiyong, can I have my salary for this month?” she blurted out.

“Sure. I’ll give it to you when you come by my apartment to drop off my laundry later. I don’t carry cash with me. ” He nonchalantly said as he munched on the sandwich. “Did you have barbecue for lunch, by any chance?”

“Yeah, how did you know?” Dara asked, curious.

“You smell like barbecue. Can you scoot over?  The smell is too strong, I’m losing my appetite.” He said, scrunching up his nose, as if smelling something really offensive.

Dara walked out after glaring at the man. She really can’t have a decent moment with him. Jiyong just shrugged and chuckled.

--

Dara’s phone beeped, revealing a text from the . He told Dara that she can’t come to his apartment later because Kiko will be there. According to him, Kiko is still uncomfortable about the whole Dara situation. Apparently, he saw Kiko at the party last night and told her that the ‘girlfriend thing’ was just for show because of the scandal.

His plan to regain Kiko’s attention through the dating scandal is probably working, Dara thought.

However, to comply to their contract, Jiyong will see Kiko in his apartment, where no one else can see them together.

At