"And here I thought something bad had happened to you. Looks like I worried for nothing." The accusation in his voice was almost tangible that Dara didn't know how to respond. "Tss. So much for this villa's exclusivity." He whipped out his phone and started typing. "I'll ask Taehee to find us another place to stay."

She scowled at his words. Jiyong had a lot of admirable qualities, but if there's one negative trait she absolutely detests, it's how unreasonable he gets when he's jealous. Sometimes to the point that it's borderline possessive. Marching toward him, she then snatched his phone away. "Nobody's leaving," she firmly declared before stepping inside the house. He followed her to the living room.

"Dara, give me my phone back."

She normally has a placid nature and tries very hard to maintain a clear head when it comes to her relationship with Jiyong because truth be told, it's never easy to date someone whose constantly under the limelight. She understood that the moment she agreed to be his girlfriend, but that didn't mean she's not affected everytime some random girl gets linked to him. Whirling around, she shot him a pointed look. "Wae? Are you scared I'll go through your contacts? Or is it because you don't want me to find out about your secret late night trysts?"

His brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you really think so less of me, Jiyong? Did you think I wouldn't know about you and this Nana girl?"

Shock was written all over his face. The bastard probably thought he was doing a good job hiding it since he was clearly caught off-guard by her sudden question. "Dara," he tried to reach out, but she took a step back and resolutely stared him down. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, you got it all wrong."

"Which part? The one where you're dating Nana or the fact that you wanted us to go on vacation only because you're trying to escape yet another scandal?"

"For the last time, I'm not seeing her!" His booming voice made her flinch. "I worked with her for a magazine feature, okay? And like any other projects, we had a couple of drinks after with the rest of the staff. It's not like we're the only ones in there."

"Then why would she ride in the same car with you?"

"The hotel she was staying at was on the way to my building so I decided to just drop her off," his voice held a trace of guilt and it irked Dara to no end. "Don't read too much into it. I would've done that for any of my friends." The fact that he sounded defensive just added fuel to the fire.

Picking her phone up from the coffee table, Dara clicked on the link that Bom sent her and quickly found what she was looking for. She then showed it to him. It was a picture of Jiyong and the girl out in the streets with a group of people she didn't recognize. The signage on the surrounding stores hinted they were in Japan when the photo was taken, which only means they did meet up during one of his tours. "Were you ever going to tell me about this? Or should I just rely on the paparrazi to give me updates about my own boyfriend?" His jaw clenched as she waited for his explanation. After opening and closing his mouth like a fish, he then looked away, obviously having trouble meeting her gaze. She let her arm fall to her side, resignation washing over her entire form as she bowed her head.

"Do you still want to be with me, Ji? Cause if not, I'd rather you just tell me right now so I won't have to keep second-guessing like an idiot—"

"Stop." He closed the distance between them and held her by the shoulder. "Just stop, okay? Look at me, love." She didn't and kept her eyes on the floor instead. "Nana is just a friend. That's all there is to it. We sometimes hang out when she comes here for work or if I'm in Japan, but it's always in a group. The only reason I didn't tell you was because it never came up and quite frankly, I didn't think it was even worth a conversation." He sighed. "That's actually why I had to take a later flight so I could help sajangnim settle the problem. A news blackout had been carried out and an official statement was released by the company denying the issue in my behalf. We don't have to worry about it anymore. It's all taken care of."

"Is it?" Dara removed his arms around her. "Your reputation is safe, congratulations."

He was completely taken aback by her spiteful tone. Yes, he had kept the issue a secret. But it was only to protect his relationship with the little tokki, afraid that if she learns about the rumors, she'd think he was cheating on her. He wasn't. He never did. It was true that he went out to dinner with Nana a number of times, but it was purely platonic and he always made sure his actions were within the lines of friendship. His schedule was packed ever since they kicked off the Asian leg of their Last Dance tour and they had to fly from one country to another. When they're allowed a two-day off till the next concert, as much as possible he tries to spend it with Dara. Their time together was limited and so he makes the most out of it by staying in her apartment, either cuddling in bed or simply watching a movie. As with the Jeju vacation, Jiyong had it planned for months, even before this stupid scandal came to circulation. In fact, his brother can attest to this since Seungho was the one who provided the tickets and made the reservation for the private villa as a gift for his birthday. He was burned out with exhaustion with the on-going tour, the damn media ruining his name at every turn and now this.

He was so done with people.

"Are you ing kidding me right now?" Jiyong furiously spat out. "You're supposed to know better than to believe whatever you hear in the news!"

"How can I when you don't even tell me anything?" She yelled back. "You think this is easy for me, Ji? You think I enjoy watching other girls openly flirt with you while I silently stand in the background? I pretend not to care because technically, no one knows I exist!"

"So now you're putting the blame on me? You're the one who insisted we keep our relationship a secret," he scoffed. "You won't even let me hold your hand in public! What else am I to do then? Fend off the next girl that shows up? I'm already frustrated as it is."

Dara stared at him. Hearing the words directly from his own mouth made it all more hurtful. "So it all boils down to that, huh?" She laughed bitterly. "Sorry I couldn't be 'exciting' enough for you." She slammed the phone on his chest before heading toward the door.

"Aiiish. Nega micheosso." He tried grabbing her hand, but she swatted it away. "Dara, you know that's not what I meant!" She ignored him and disappeared into the patio without a backward glance.  "Aaaargh!!" He kicked the couch, the pillows flying to the opposite direction as he let out his anger on the furniture around him. He threw the nearest thing he could grab into the wall. A loud crash resonated in the living room as the lamp shattered into a thousand pieces on the floor.

Why does this keep happening to him? He tried so hard to be the person they all wanted him to be. A great leader, a good son, a loving boyfriend...why couldn't people see that? He slid to the floor and closed his eyes. He was so ing tired. All he ever wanted was to spend the weekend with Dara in peace, away from all the noise and drama that came with his alter-ego. He fiddled with the red cord on his wrist, the one Dara gifted him on his birthday. He only takes it off when he needs to shower and even then, he always made sure it was safe inside its box. This was the first time he's hearing the little tokki's complaints. Was he really that inconsiderate to her feelings? He tried putting himself in her shoes. How would he feel if their roles had been reversed and Dara was the one partying it out there with other people? Or worse, what if she was in that dating scandal?

He would do more than flip out, that's for sure.

Dara was a very beautiful woman. There's no question about it. She doesn't even have to try. She could walk out of the house with her bare face and she'd still turn a few heads because of her natural beauty. In fact, whenever they go out in groups, he would often enlist s' help in shielding the little tokki from any bastards who try to hit on her. Didn't he lost his cool when he saw her talking to that dude down the beach? He didn't mean to greet her with a scathing remark, but after everything he went through earlier, his insecurities overpowered his reason and he just snapped. 

"Ah, jinjja."

He ran his fingers through his hair, berating himself on his poor choice of words. Now Dara must think he orchestrated this whole vacation so he could get her in bed. Well, to be honest, he hoped it would be the case, but he never pushed her to do something she didn't want to do. Contrary to what people say, he's not a casanova. When he loves someone, he gives it his all--every part of him, mind and soul. Seungri even about this on national television, claiming the reason behind Bigbang's hit lovesongs was because every relationship he's had in the past all ended in heartbreaks. The maknae was right of course, but it didn't mean he had to announce it to the whole damn world. Jiyong must've dozed off on the floor for some time because he was jolted from his sleep with the booming clap of thunder. Groggily, he pushed himself up and glanced out the window. Outside, masses of thick dark clouds rolled in the sky as the rain poured hard, the wind hitting the glass, causing it to vibrate through the windowframe. He flicked on the lights and was dismayed to find out that it wasn't working. There must be a power outtage or something. The living room was swallowed in darkness and only flashes of lightning allowed him to see where he was going as he searched for some candles. After a few minutes of scavenging, he found a single flashlight and two boxes of tealight candles stashed on one of the kitchen drawers. Thankfully, they were all battery-operated and all he needed to do was switch them on. He proceeded to place it all around the living room and some on the floor, reminding himself to sweep the broken glass once he's finished. 

"Dara?" he called out as he entered the bedroom. She usually sleeps it off whenever they have a fight and he'd always sneak in and spoon her from behind, muttering sweet nothings into her ear until she forgives him. "Babe? You in here?" He reached into the sheets and found it empty. "Dara?" He checked the bathroom. Nothing. Her luggage was still in the same spot which means she didn't leave. He ran to the adjacent room, but she wasn't there. He started to panic. Outside, there was another clap of thunder followed by a flash of lightning.

'You know it's funny.'

'What is?'

'I like the rain, but I'm actually really scared of thunder and lightning. During stormy nights like this, I used to hide under the covers when I was younger.'

'We can hide under my bed if you want to,' he with a wink.

'It's okay." She smiled up at him. "I know you'd protect me.'

He held her closer to his chest. 'Always.' 

"Santokki," he breathed out. Swiftly grabbing the flashlight from the counter, he then dashed off toward the direction of the beach.