Dara's POV

 

"Who did it?"

 

"Hmm?"

 

I shifted in my seat and reached out to gently trace the fading bruise on his jaw. "It wasn't here the last time I saw you."

 

"Ah. Right, um..." He gave a nervous laugh and waved it off. "It's nothing. Just got into some minor accident at work."

 

"I didn't know you started filming action movies," I replied with heavy sarcasm. "Is Seungho also part of the cast or is he your personal trainer?"

 

Jiyong chuckled. "Alright. You win. He did punch me in the face, but before you jump into any assumptions, I didn't lay a hand on him, okay? Though I may have unintentionally initiated the brawl when I said something he didn't like. He snapped right after."

 

"What did the two of you talk about?"

 

He shot me an apologetic grin. "Sorry, but it's kind of a private thing between brothers so I can't really tell you." He must've noticed my frown because he swiftly added, "Don't worry, it's all good now."

 

"Jiyong-ah..."

 

"Neh, ahjumma?"

 

"Tell me."

 

"Ani."

 

"Jiyong!"

 

"Ahjumma!"

 

"Just tell me!"

 

"Andwae."

 

I crossed my arms and scowled at the dashboard. I don't even know where the heck we were heading. Jiyong suddenly pinched my cheek. "So adorable my little Santokki!"

 

I slapped his hand away. "Ya, keep your eyes on the road."

 

"Aigoo. You know what, I think I know the perfect thing to cheer you up."

 

"No, I don't want some ice cream."

 

"Oh, this one's ten times better than ice cream."

 

Tss. What could possibly be better than ice cream? I slumped lower in my seat. "I'm surprised sajangnim allowed you to drive on your own."

 

"Well..." He drawled out.

 

"Well what?"

 

He scratched his neck. "What he doesn't know won't kill him, right?"

 

"Mworago??" I gaped at him. "You didn't tell him about this?!"

 

"Ya, what do you take me for? I'm not some kid who needs supervision," he scoffed before making a left turn. "I'm capable of doing things on my own."

 

"A-aniya. We need to turn back."

 

"No way."

 

"Ji—"

 

"There's no point in arguing, ahjumma. We're already here." He parked the car behind a huge building. "Sorry it's a little bit far from the entrance. I know it's a weekday and it's probably not packed, but I just want to avoid the hassle." He unbuckled his seatbelt then leaned over to remove mine. Because I was in a hurry earlier,  I didn't have the chance to change my look. The clips from my tight ponytail were hurting my scalp and I pulled them out, finally able to let my hair fall in waves down my back. Jiyong tucked a few stray ones behind my ear. 

 

"Ah, yeppeuda," he said, grinning. "You look pretty even without any make-up on."

 

Aiish. Such a smooth talker. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

 

"Jealous?"

 

"Tss. In your dreams."

 

He laughed and put his mask on before locking the car. He was about to take my hand when I noticed his tattoo peeking out from under his jacket. "Wait a sec." Pulling my scarf from my sling bag, I then wrapped it around his neck. "You did pay a good amount of money for me tonight. The least I could do is make sure my date doesn't get cold, right?" 

 

He chuckled. 

 

"What?"

 

"Nothing. I'm just gloating over the fact that it's me who gets to take you home instead of those ing losers." He sounded extremely proud of himself. "I ran a background check on each registered guest. For example, that old snoot who bid against Seungho? Yeah. He got divorced last month. Fourth wife to be exact. The er probably wanted you to be the fifth."

 

I stared at him with my mouth agape. "You did a background check on them?!"

 

"Uh-huh." He held my hand as we walked. "I had to know what I'm up against with. Not that there's any competition. I mean, not to brag—"

 

"You're totally bragging right now."

 

"—but I doubt anyone could even afford to go beyond what I had to offer."

 

"Well aren't you the king of confidence."

 

"Not all the time." Jiyong smiled sheepishly, his cheeks flushing as he glanced at me. "Especially when you're around."

I looked away and stifled my smile. Internally, I was spazzing out. He's so precious when he acts all shy and timid. Could he get any cuter? Ah, jinjja. I was trying to calm my racing heart when I heard faint sounds of distant screams followed by familiar music. When I turned around to check what it was, I almost didn't believe my eyes. 

 

"Surprise," he whispered in my ear. "Do you like it?"

 

 

 

GD's POV

 

She likes it all right.

 

The moment we passed through the turnstiles, Dara immediately morphed into an energizer bunny who lost concept of both time and space. She was so pumped up with sugar that I developed asthma just by looking at her zoom in and out from one stall to another. 

 

Click.

 

Oh and she also tricked me into buying her a disposable camera a few seconds ago. Now she's documenting everything.

 

"Aigoo. Domo kyeopta!"

 

I checked my reflection in the store's window and instantly sulked. "Aiiiisht. Shiro!"

 

"Ai, wae? What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

 

"Seriously? Look around you."

 

She did. Then turned back with the same confused expression. We were surrounded by couples in matching hats and shirts. Couldn't she tell how much I wanted to do the same with her?! I stomped my foot on the ground. "You're Minnie Mouse so why can't I be Mickey?!"

 

"I told you, it's too small."

 

"And this one's too huge! You can't even see my face!"

 

Dara rolled her eyes. "Aigoo. That's the whole point." She patted the top of my stupid green dinosaur hat. "Ol' Rex here is the perfect disguise. No one will be able to recognize you."

 

"But this thing is on the way!" I crossed my arms and pouted. "What if I want to kiss you?"

 

She hit me in the shoulder, quickly looking around to make sure nobody heard me. "Ya, you got to stop saying those kind of things."

 

"Wae wae waeyo?!" I puffed my chest out, tilting my chin up and dared anyone to dispute my claim. "What's wrong with wanting to kiss my girlfriend?" A few people turned their heads toward our direction, but Dara smartly pushed me out of the store before they could get a glimpse of my face.

 

"Aiish jinjja. You're driving me crazy!" After making sure my disguise was secured, she crossed her arms and scowled at me. "And who says I'm your girlfriend?"

 

"Aren't we on a date right now?"

 

"So? That doesn't mean I'm your girlfriend."

 

"Geureom..." I tilted my head to the side. "Are you my mistress?" 

 

Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Jugulae?"

 

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Aigoo." I laughed and pulled the little tokki to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her. I wanted our first date to be a memorable one so I had to get down on my knees and ask Seungho for advice. Dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant was definitely out of the question. I want to woo Dara, not upset her further by bringing her to the place where it all went wrong. The zoo seemed a bit lacking in the romance department and killed any chances for intimacy. I've never seen Dara freak out over reptiles or bears or any deadly animals. Funny thing though, she'd probably go and wrestle a mountain lion with her bare hands, but would be scared less in the presence of a newborn puppy. Kekeke

 

In the end, I had to enlist Bom's help and after several attempts, she finally spared me her time and suggested I take Santokki to the place that makes her the happiest...which of course, brings us to the present. I can't even remember the last time I went to an amusement park. Tae Hee had been all-out against it, insisting that it was too risky, too open, too dangerous.

 

'It's basically a front page disaster waiting to happen!'

 

I'm pretty sure he blew a fuse trying to convince me to drop the subject. But like always, I didn't listen to him and still went with the plan. Seeing Dara's bright smile made everything worth it.

 

"How about we try those rides, neh?" 

 

"Fine," she pouted. "But you need to behave. And I get to choose which one we'll try first."

 

I flourished my hand and bowed in front of her. "Lead the way, gongjunim."

 

 

                    ~~~~*****~~~

 

"Ya, Taehee-ssi. What do you think?" 

 

It took a while to process the sight of Soonho in his Goofy hat. "What the is that?"

 

"Well, I figured since we're undercover, we'll need a disguise." He was smiling from ear to ear, posing in front of the popcorn machine like a lunatic. "Looks good on me, right?"

 

Beside him, Dong-Gil cleared his throat. "We gotta go. Subjects are moving."

 

"Jesus," muttered Taehee under his breath as he begrudgingly wore what Soonho got for him. The bastard had to choose a headband with cat ears. "I can't wait until this date ends."

 

GD's angels, as what Soonho liked to call their unlikely trio, kept a close surveillance on the couple throughout the night. In every attraction Dara managed to drag Jiyong into, rest assured, the trio was there silently lurking behind them. Taehee vomited twice. Once after that death-defying rollercoaster ride. The second time was when he made the mistake of holding his breath as the Pirate ship reached it's highest point during the swing, the stern of the boat suspended sixty feet above the ground. In all fairness though, they were seated in the back. 

 

"Does she ever get tired?" Soonho asked nobody in particular. They were currently slumped on the pavement, watching GD make his second attempt at the shooting range. "I swear it's like she runs on batteries or something." He took a huge bite from his hotdog bun. All that tailing made him hungry.

 

"Hey, isn't that G-dragon?"

 

Soonho choked. 

 

"Psh. Of course not." The girl wearing a crown headband slapped her friend's arm. "I mean, he kinda looks like him from the back, but let's get real. Why would GD go somewhere without a bodyguard? Besides, check out that girl." She made a face. "GD would never date her."

 

Their male companion snorted. "What are you talking about? I think she's really pretty."

 

"Shut up, Jinoo."

 

"Oh wait, I know!" The first girl suddenly pulled her phone out. "I'll take a picture so we could zoom in and see if it's really him."

 

"Yeah. Good idea."

 

The two managers exchanged a look. Duty calls. Following standard emergency procedure, Soonho jumped in front of them and started swatting the air with his paper fan while Taehee sneaked behind him so he can inform Jiyong of an immediate evacuation. "Aiiish. So many annoying insects in here!" He flung his arms around in an exaggerated manner.

 

"Jeogiyo," the snobbish girl who looked down her nose on Dara, curled her lips at him. "Ahjussi, can you move aside? We're trying to take a pic."

 

"It's okay. Don't mind me," he replied through clenched teeth. "Just getting rid of stupid mosquitos here."

 

She crossed her arms. "But you're blocking the view."

 

"Ah, geuraeyo?" He pretended to be clueless. "Arasso. Jeosonghaeyoooo..."

 

"Eh? Where is he?!"

 

Soonho heard them groan in unison when they noticed the one currently shooting the tin can was no longer GD. He sighed in relief. Searching for Dong-Gil in the crowd, he then dialed Taehee's number. 

 

"Dude, where are you?"

 

"Get to the controls. We're about to start Phase 3."

 

"Jeongmal?" Soonho discarded the hotdog and maneuvered his way through the crowd to get to their meeting point. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."

 

It took about fifteen men and a tad amount of money to bribe the management so they could get the carousel ride to be closed off from the public. When Soonho arrived, it was pitch dark and only the moon served as their light. He almost bumped into Dong-Gil who was already crouched behind the huge pillars, a series of wires and tubes pooled along his feet. 

 

"Are they here already?"

 

"Yeah. Jiyong has Dara in a blindfold."

 

He snorted. "Like that's necessary. I can't even see my own hand right now."

 

Taehee suddenly crawled over to them, his breath knocked out of him. "Light 'em up." Soonho giddily laughed. Taehee just rolled his eyes at him. 

 

"Jiyong-ah, where are you taking me?" Dara blindly reached out in front of her. 

 

"Just a couple of steps more, babe."

 

Her cheeks flushed with his choice of endearment. Jiyong smirked. He loved seeing her get flustered with the littlest of things. 

 

"Okay. Stop right here." He whirled around. Soonho was waving at him with—of all things—a Bigbang light stick. He raised his hand and sent him the go signal. "You can take off the blindfold now."

 

She did as he instructed. "Ji, what—"

 

Out of the blue, bright lights flooded the whole area accompanied by the playing of signature carnival music in the background. Colorful horses mounted on posts galloped up and down as the carousel moved. At the center, a huge LED display sign caught her eye. 

 

WILL YOU BE MY DAISY?

 

Dara felt her heart hammering in her chest. In front of her, Jiyong had gotten down on one knee, a bouquet of daisies on his hand. "Don't you think daisies are the friendliest flowers?"

 

A snort exploded from her lips. "Did you seriously just quote Meg Ryan to me?"

 

"Dammit," he muttered. "I was hoping you didn't know that." She laughed even harder. He smiled and gave her the flowers. "Dara, I know I've put you through a lot of pain and I'm sorry for all the times you've gotten hurt because of me. I'm a jerk and I mess up a lot. But if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's you." He stood and kissed her hand. "Being in a relationship with me isn't going to be easy, but I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect you." He tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sarangheyo, my little Santokki." 

 

Dara blinked back her tears. "Thank you."

 

Jiyong stared blankly at her. "Um...Did I just get friend zoned?" He rubbed his neck. "Coz I'm really not sure—"

 

With a slight shake of her head, she chuckled and went, "Thank you for giving it to me."

 

"You mean the daisies?" 

 

"Ani." Dara grasped the front of his jacket and pulled him down for a sweet kiss. When they parted, she softly whispered, "True love." She smiled. 

 

"I love you too, Kwon Ji Yong."