"Should I wake them?"

 

"I don't think it's a wise move to disturb Mr. Kwon. He looks pretty comfortable."

 

"Oh he won't be in a minute, trust me."

 

Click.

 

  Click.

 

"Mino, will you stop that?!"

 

"Oooooh. This is so going to sell like hot cakes!"

 

BAM!

 

"What the—"

 

"Let Dong-Gil do his job, kid."

 

"He crushed my phone!!"

 

*Snicker*

 

"Well, you were kinda asking for it."

 

"Hyung!! My phone!!"

 

"Don't look at me, punk. I'm not the one who dug his own grave."

 

 

GD's POV

 

Aiiiisssht. Why the hell are they making so much noise?

 

"Can you guys shut the hell up?" I grumbled and snuggled closer to my pillow. "Someone's trying to sleep here!"

 

"Language."

 

" me."

 

"We'd really rather not."

 

"Ya, Wonder boy, get up."

 

I groaned.

 

"I said get up!"

 

I muttered a few choice words and flipped them off for invasion of privacy.

 

"Privacy, my . You're not exactly in the position to be righteous when you're practically smothering my niece with your scrawny unclean hands!"

 

First of all, my hands were neither scrawny nor unclean. In fact, I take great pride in showing off my very talented fingers. Secondly, what niece?

 

I begrudgingly opened my eyes, repeatedly blinking my way into consciousness.

 

The first thing I noticed was that my neck was sore from being bent in a weird angle. Said angle was inclined toward something soft. That soft thing turned out to a be a hand, not mine judging on how tiny it was and because I was holding said hand with my own. My eyes trailed off toward the pale forearm where it's connected, up to the sleeve of a powder blue sweater, then to the collarbone peeking out from under the modest neckline, and lastly, to the small face of a woman who's eyes were slowly regaining focus.

 

*crickets crickets*

 

Ehhh?!!!

 

It was amazing how fast we broke apart from each other; me rolling down the floor as if the couch was on fire and Dara practically catapulting herself to the other side of the room with inhuman speed.

 

"But h-how?" I let my fingers run amok on my already messy hair. "All I remember was that I couldn't sleep so I went d-down and—" I swept my gaze from the kitchen to the couch to the mug of cold tea on the table then to Dara's horrified face. Memories of last night slowly flooded my brain like an open dam. "Y-you!" I pointed an accusing finger at her direction.

 

She ignored me and turned her attention to Jae Suk instead. "It's not what you think."

 

Jae Suk stood at the center of the living room with his hands crossed over his chest, a stony look on his face as he waited for an explanation.

 

"Well this has been fun, but I got other stuff to do," Tae Hee happily announced before patting Jae Suk's shoulder. "All yours, Mr. Landlord."

 

Mino took the hint and followed suit, picking up the remains of his phone from the floor. "I just remembered, I have to go feed the dog."

 

"We don't have a dog, idiot."

 

"Oh really?" He crossed his arms and shot him a sardonic look. "Then who eats those leftover food I leave on the patio?"

 

"That would be Tam-Tam," replied a still red-faced Dara.

 

"Who's TamTam?"

 

"Her cat," I helpfully interjected which only earned me a distrustful gaze from the other men in the room.

 

"Okaaaay. I'll go feed her," he said before scurrying away.

 

"Tam-Tam's a he," I muttered under my breath which of course didn't escape hyung's sharp hearing.

 

He waved his hand in the air and went, "Never mind the mongrel. I'm more interested in knowing why the two of you slept together."

 

"He slept," Dara pointed out, tilting her chin toward my direction. "I dozed off. There's a difference."

 

"Don't get technical with me, young lady."

 

She frowned. "I'm not. I'm just laying out the facts here."

 

"And you? What's your excuse?"

 

I visibly flinched as his gaze landed on me. Jae Suk really had that scary aura going for him when he chooses to abandon his comedic side. I haven't seen him lose his cool so far and I'm really hoping I'm not around when it happens. Experience has taught me well that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

 

I held my hands up in a placating manner. "You know, to be perfectly honest, I didn't even know it was her." He raised a thick brow, totally not buying my story. Rubbing my neck, I hesitated whether to tell him or not. I mean, it does sound kinda stupid.

 

"He was sleep walking."

 

Huh? I...was?

 

I looked over to where Dara was standing. Her face didn't give anything away and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by how adept she is in the art of confabulation.

 

"I managed to bring him to the couch, but I lost my balance and he ended up falling on my lap," she continued, her voice steady. "I didn't expect for him to fall asleep right then and there. It kinda felt rude to wake him up again so I let him be."

 

If there was any indication that he didn't buy the lie one bit, it was most certainly the slight twitching of his upper lip. "So you do that a lot, kid?"

 

I looked at him blankly.

 

"You know, sleepwalk?"

 

"Uh, the truth is—" Dara's heavy glare over Jae Suk's shoulder had me recoiling in fear. "T-the truth is...that I sometimes sleep walk when I'm tired." And since I've had a few shares of acting roles in the past, I tried to sell it off by grinning sheepishly as if it was indeed true. "Sorry about that, hyung."

 

Jae Suk studied me speculatively for a few seconds. "You better make sure it doesn't happen again," he finally said. Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, he pointed toward the dining room. "Hurry and eat your breakfast. We're going to the city today." He tossed a towel toward me and I almost lost my balance trying to catch it. "Meet me in the driveway by nine."

 

Quickly glancing at the clock, I gave him an incredulous look. "Are you serious?! It's already eight thirty-five! I still need to shower!"

 

He snorted. "Time waits for no one, kid. Best to make every second count."

 

I rolled my eyes. "I am. That's why I need at least thirty minutes to take a proper bath."

 

"You either come out by nine or I'll have Tae Hee drag your into the driveway," he threatened. "And this time, I'll make sure Mino properly documents it."

 

The door shut with a bang after his wake.

 

"What Jae Suk hyung needs is a girlfriend. That way he wouldn't act so high-strung all the time." I stretched my arms over my head and yawned fitfully. "He wouldn't mind if I set him up on a date, right?" I whirled around and saw Dara holding the notebook I placed on the table last night.

 

"Where did you get this?" She asked, her forehead creasing.

 

"Um, I found it."

 

Her lips were in a thin line as she narrowed her eyes at me. "You mean you stole it."

 

"No, I didn't steal it. I found it in a box."

 

"A box you had no business rummaging through. This belongs to my personal stuff."

 

It was my turn to scowl at her. I crossed the room in a few strides and reached out to grab the notebook. Dara's frown grew deeper as she held on to it tightly. "Ya, I don't like being called a thief. Besides, this notebook was barely used. You even had it thrown in with the other junk."

 

She tugged the notebook back to her when I pulled it toward me. "Did it ever cross your mind that I intend for it to be that way?"

 

"I'd hate to see good quality paper get wasted, especially when it contains so much potential." I tugged it back. We were basically in the middle of a tug war. "You didn't tell me you write songs."

 

Her hold on the notebook momentarily loosened. "Wrote," she emphasized with downcast eyes. "I wrote songs a long time ago. Not anymore."

 

"Why not? It's actually pretty good. At least what you've written so far. And I take it you play the piano, too?"

 

She chewed on her lower lip as she looked away. "Played."

 

"Why'd you stop?" This I'm genuinely curious about.

 

"Just because."

 

So much for an answer. I was about to ask her to elaborate when she suddenly released her hold on the notebook and gravity immediately took over, causing me to fall backward. Luckily, my landed on the armrest of the couch and not on the floor.

 

"Fine," she deadpanned, her face back to its usual apathetic state. "Rip it to pieces, burn it, throw it in the trash...do whatever you want with it. I don't really care." She then stormed off without so much as a backward glance.

 

What was her problem?

 

I looked at the notebook on my hand and then to the stairs where Dara disappeared to.

 

Aiiiisssht. Girls are so hard to read.

 

 

****

 

 

"I have a proposition."

 

"I'm not interested."

 

I pouted as I leaned at the back of the truck beside her. We were currently waiting for Jae Suk hyung to return. He said he was going to pay his friend's shop a quick visit.

 

"Oh come on! You haven't even heard it yet!"

 

She snorted. "I have an inkling it's somewhere between the lines of forced slavery in exchange for monetary compensation."

 

"Daebak," I breathed out, eyeing her with an awed look on my face. "Are you a mind reader?"

 

She crossed her arms and gave me a sideway glance. "You just happen to be predictable."

 

That actually makes sense. In fact, YB used to tell me that I was an open book. I straightened and stood before her. "Just hear me out, first." She shot me an exasperated look. "Please?" I clasped my hand together and gave her the most aegyo expression I could muster.

 

Dara shook her head before sighing. "This better be good."

 

"Yes!" I returned to my original spot, draping an arm over her shoulder and keeping her on a headlock. "You know, I think you actually care about me more than you let on."

 

"You wish," she grumbled under my hold. "Could you get your arm off of me? You're heavy."

 

"Not until I finish."

 

"Then do start so I can go back to breathing properly, your graciousness."

 

I chuckled. "You need to take a chill pill. Being so antsy all the time can give you wrinkles." She elbowed me in the ribs. "Hey, watch it. So I was thinking—"

 

"Never a good thing," she quipped.

 

"We can stay like this the whole afternoon if you'd like." I squeezed her head to make myself clear.

 

"Fine, fine! I'll zip it."

 

"Atta girl." I grinned in triumph. "Anyway, you do know that there's only a week left before the end of the month, right?"

 

"I'm fairly oriented with the current time, yes."

 

I chose to let her snappy remarks slide.

 

"I heard from hyung that there isn't much to do in the hotel once the month ends, between Mino heading to that boot camp and us leaving for home soon." My palms turned sweaty all of a sudden and I couldn't pinpoint the reason as to why I'm starting to feel nervous. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, my gaze fixed on the lamp post a few meters away. "I was wondering if you'd consider finding a steady job aside from babysitting. I mean, don't get me wrong, working with kids is kinda cool, it's just, the city can offer more opportunities for you to have a better paycheck."

 

"Did Jae Suk set you up to this?" Her tone sounded accusing.

 

"No," I quickly answered. "Why?"

 

She frowned. "It sounds like something he'd say."

 

"Well, I guess great minds think alike." She didn't look too happy with that statement. "You have to admit it's an awesome idea. The world is an awfully big place and I'm sure a lot of people who are too busy with their work,"—I made sure to point to myself—"could really use your organization skills to make their life easier."

 

"My organization skills?"

 

I nodded. "Or what I like to call as haggling."

 

"I do not haggle."

 

"My bad. I meant, nag."

 

"Do you want to die?"

 

"In the far off future, yes. Not so much right now." That earned me a stomp to my expensive limited-edition shoes. "Careful! This costs more than your whole wardrobe, ahjumma!" I bent forward to wipe the dust off of my beloved sneaks.

 

"You want to hire me as your slave?"

 

I scrunched up my nose, slightly taken aback by her bluntness. "I believe the correct term is personal assistant."

 

"Semantics. That's basically the same thing."

 

"No, it's not. Aside from being my assistant, you also function as my personal music advisor."

 

She snorted. "There's no such thing as music advisor."

 

"Yes, there is."

 

"You just made it up."

 

"I didn't. There's really a job like that."

 

"Where? In Mars?"

 

"Yes," I pounded her head once with my fist. She yelped in surprise and tried to tackle me to the ground. Keyword being 'tried.' "And they're also wise enough not to talk back to their employer."

 

"Well it's great then that I live on Earth and that I don't work for you."

 

I refused to be deterred from my goal as I continued with my business proposal. "Not only will you have the privilege of being in my presence, you also get to work with me on Bigbang's comeback album. I can even make your untitled song a part of it, if you want. On the condition that you'll help me finish it, of course."

 

She stopped squirming. "You want to use my music?"

 

"Yep."

 

"Why?"

 

"I told you, it has potential."

 

She remained silent for a few moments before she mumbled, "You're out of your mind."

 

"Obviously, since I'm offering you this very important job." I tried to sound blasé about everything to cover up the fact that I'm the one whose in dire need of help. After all, I don't want her to think of me as an incompetent composer. "But I kind of need a few inputs. Add a different flavor, if you may. I think you can give me that."

 

She looked at me with an unreadable expression. "You're having a writer's block, aren't you?"

 

"What? Pfft. Of course not!" I shrieked in the most undignified manner. "I'm just biding my time, that's all."

 

Dara twisted my arm and efficiently escaped my hold. "Forget it." She turned and started walking.

 

"Dara, come on. This is a chance of a lifetime!"

 

"No thanks."

 

"Think about the money!"

 

"I'm good."

 

"Where are you going?" I scrambled to my feet and followed her.

 

"To look for Samchon. He's been gone for twenty minutes already."

 

"Well, he's visiting a friend." I secured the mask on my face. We were in the city and in one of the busiest districts in Seoul, I can't put my guard down. Someone might recognize me. "They're probably enjoying their chat."

 

"That's exactly what's been bothering me. Jae Suk's friend doesn't work in Itaewon."

 

"Maybe he transferred?"

 

Dara acted like she didn't hear me as she continued walking, expertly turning into alley ways as if she'd been here a lot of times. As we reached the crossing, she stopped and turned abruptly that her face was only a few inches from my chest.

 

"Ice cream."

 

I raised a brow at her in confusion. "What?"

 

"I want some ice cream," she repeated.

 

"No sh*t, Sherlock," I said with a sardonic laugh. "What do you want me to—"

 

She waved a couple of paper bills in front of my face and went, "Buy me one and I might just consider your offer."

 

My fingers had never been so fast to take the money out of her hand. "That's a deal, then." I flashed her a grin. "One strawberry ice cream comin' right up!"

 

 

Dara's POV

 

 

I waited for Jiyong to round the corner before sprinting toward the back entrance of a local coffee shop. The owner with his graying hair glanced up from his crossword puzzle and regarded me with a bored look. I hesitantly flashed him a timid smile and went directly to the other side of the room. A few feet from where I stood, Jae Suk and Bom's father were seated in one of the small tables near the glass window. I crept closer and hid myself behind a stack of books.

 

"She's not going to like it." I heard Jae Suk say with a disapproving tone.

 

"It doesn't matter whether she likes it or not. The more she drags this out, the more her health will deteriorate."

 

"Says who?"

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"By whose account is this from? Yours or from the board of trustees?"

 

His jaw was set in a rigid angle. "I've given her the space she needed even if it had been against my better judgment. Time isn't exactly on her side, so to speak."

 

"What are you saying?"

 

I peeked between the shelves and saw Dr. Park's somber expression. He took a sip of his tea before answering. "The results came back this morning." He adjusted his tie and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, like he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. I felt my hands tremble as I awaited his next words.

 

"Myungsoo, what is it?"

 

Bom's father sighed. "The tumor has grown. It hasn't metastasized yet, but we're afraid it'll press on the main arteries and affect her brain process. That's mainly what's causing the seizures and fainting spells."

 

Jae Suk grew pale, his hand balled into a fist on top of the table. "What about surgery?"

 

"We've contacted a few colleagues abroad and there's a neurosurgeon there who's an expert in performing this certain procedure to remove brain tumors."

 

"Then that's good, right? It can help her."

 

He surreptitiously glanced down at the file on the table and righted his glasses. "Though it's been done a few times before, Dara's case is somewhat...unique. The tumor is in close proximity to the frontal lobe and as such, there will be some difficulty in removal, but statistics show a sixty percent chance of survival."

 

Sixty percent? I focused on my breathing.

 

"And the other forty?" Myungsoo's brows furrowed as he clearly debated how to go about delivering the rest of probabilities. Jae Suk decided to press on, "Tell me, please. I need to know."

 

With a discernible drop in his shoulders, Dr. Park handed him a folder.

 

"She might lose her memory. Not just the short term, but as well as some long-term ones. That's assuming she'll go through with it."

 

"Jesus." Jae Suk rubbed his temple, running his eyes over the words written on the paper. 

 

I leaned forward at the shelf for support. My body felt numb, my knees weak. I wanted to get out, to run away, but my stupid feet remained rooted to the spot.

 

"And if she doesn't?" Jae Suk asked in barely a whisper.

 

I'll die.

 

Dr. Park's silence was more than enough to confirm the dreaded future.

 

"H-how long does she have?"

 

I witnessed Dr. Park's lips move with each word, but nothing made sense to me. The ringing in my ears had impossibly gotten louder and before I knew it, I was running out of the cafe and into the streets. I didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to escape. Run away from this city...this country...this horrible life.

 

Was it possible to run away from reality?

 

Chances were slim, if not impossible.

 

I skidded to a stop, almost toppling forward to catch my breath. My heart was pounding in my ears and black spots appeared in my vision. When I tried to focus on my surroundings, I realized I'm standing in the middle of the road. My brain briefly registered that a car was speeding my way and I felt everything turn into slow motion.

 

My life's going to end soon, anyway.

 

The car honked repeatedly.

 

What's the point of waiting for the inevitable to happen?

 

 

Closing my eyes, I finally let go.