DARA'S POV

I've been preparing for the pageant, wait, let me rephrase that. They've been preparing for the pageant for the past weeks and everyone was in a rush. Chaerin was in charge of my makeup and all the dresses I will wear for that night. She even coordinated with the organizers about the sets of clothes we'll be sporting for the fashion show. She told me it’s important so I would know how to model each and fortunately, she's used to it for she's been modeling for quite some time and told me she'll teach me the techniques. On the other hand, Minzy busied herself with the ticket sales which apparently doing well for she almost sold all the tickets assigned to me. She said she's still unsatisfied since she learned that Krystal was already on her second batch of tickets. Half of it was sold and still wouldn't stop until all of them are gone. As for Bom, she prepared everything that I will need for my talent portion. She gave me lots of ideas which were great by the way. I didn't know that she has it in her.

"So, are you all set?" Bom asked me as she looked at her checklist. The four of us gathered here in Chaerin's house to prepare all the necessary things needed. "Tomorrow will be the start of our school's Foundation day. I'll be busy so I need to know if everything is ready for you." She said in a business-like tone.

"Oh yeah, you're in charge of the marriage booth," I said and that earned a squealing frenzy from the two.

"Really Unnie? Can you arrange my marriage with one of my crushes from your university?" Chaerin asked as she clutched on to Bom's arm.

"You mean Seungri?" Bom teased and all of us laughed.

"Ewww. Not him! I hate that rat!" She spat and placed her arms above her chest.

"Why? What's wrong with Seungri? He's a sweet guy." I told her and hugged her from her side.

"We'll I hate sweet." She said.

"What about Minzy? You want Daesung to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Bom said as she tickled Minzy who was just standing next to her.

"Omo, we're not together." She blushed as red as a tomato upon mentioning Daesung's name.

"And what about Dara Unnie? You got a long list ahead of you. There's Youngbae Oppa..." Chaerin started as she lifted her hand up and counted using her fingers.

"Jaejoong-shi too." Minzy excitedly added raising her fingers as well.

"And don't forget... Jiyong." Bom teased as she giggled and urged the two to join her.

"What? Why include Jiyong in this? He doesn't like me. He hates me to the core." I exclaimed; my eyebrows automatically connected.

"Then why did he react aggressively back in the bar when he heard you were hurt? That doesn't look like someone who doesn't give a damn about anyone especially when it comes to you." Chaerin reiterated as they looked at me intently. Come to think of it, why did he react that way?

"I don't know. I don't see it that way. He has always been my bully since we were kids." I told them, now confused as ever.

"You know what they say. The more you hate, the more you loooovvveee." Minzy commented and the three of them squealed in delight. They look like a bunch of lunatics if you'd ask me.

"Why are you guys squealing?" All of us glanced at the direction of where the voice came from and saw Donghae standing by the main door. He was carrying loads of drawing materials as he walked towards us.

"It’s because we're enumerating Dara unnie's list of prince charming." Chaerin proudly said as he hangs his arm around her cousin's shoulder.

"And did you include my name?" He said as his eyes zeroed in on me. What the hell is he saying?

"WHAT?!?" The three of them asked in unison as they looked at him, bewildered. That includes me.

Everyone went speechless for we don't know how long until Bom decided to break the silence. "You mean you like Dara too?"

He wasn't talking but his gaze towards me has remained uncut until all of us heard Chaerin's abrupt chuckle that turned into loud uncontrollable laughs. She held her stomach to help her stop but failed miserably. "Hahahaha...that's so hahaha funny Cuz. Hahahaha" she said in between laughs. Minzy seems to get what she's trying to say as she laughed along with her. It didn't take long until Bom joined in. What's wrong with these girls?

"What's so funny?" He asked as I saw his eyes started to flare up.

"You...hahahaha." Chaerin pointed at her cousin as she continued laughing. When their laughs finally died down, Chaerin clutched her cousin's arm who looks really irritated. "Aigoo, you almost got us there. For a minute I thought you were being serious."

He was about to say something but closed his mouth instead. "I’ll just...be upstairs." He said and left.

We followed him with our gazes as he went up. I saw Chaerin and the two frowned, feeling bad at what they did. "I-I’ll just go follow him up..."

"Let me talk to him Chaerin." I cut her off as I looked into her eyes, impliedly asking her permission. She nodded and I made my way upstairs.

I found him at the balcony, leaning against the grills as he looked into the distance. I cleared my throat to make my presence known to him. He looked back and smiled at me. "Hey Dara, what are you doing here?" He asked as I walked towards where he's standing.

"Just want to breathe some fresh air. Your place here is daebak!" I said as I heard him chuckled and went back to staring at the view in front of him.

"This is our grandparent’s house. We used to hang out here a lot when we were little, me, Chaerin and our other cousins." He started as he leaned forward on the grills." Our parents were always busy back then, always leaving us under their care especially when school was out. This became our second home but I’d rather call it our home since we feel more loved here than on our own." He said, his eyes suddenly became somber. What's the matter with rich kid's parents nowadays? Always leaves their children for the sake of work and forgets the most precious thing in their life. "You can see Chaerin acting tough and all but that's her only way to hide what's inside of her." I was shocked at what he said for I didn't know she's doing it on purpose. I thought being tough comes naturally on her personality. "As for me, I was a victim of bullies back then." I gasped in surprise with his sudden revelation. "At first, I thought it was a bad thing but in the long run, I learned that the more I got hurt, the more my parents noticed me. That's the only thing I saw good in that scenario. That's why..." he paused for a second before he heaved a deep sigh and continued. "I did everything I could for me to get hurt. I lure bullies to come to me, that way my parents will finally have time for me."

"Donghae..." I called; my eyes started to blur because of my own tears threatening to fall.

"What can I say? No one took me seriously before, why would they do it now?" He said, not taking his eyes off the view.

"Donghae, they didn't mean to laugh at you, they thought..." I tried to explain but he cut me off.

"It’s ok Dara. I don't take it against them. I love Chaerin like my sister, same goes with Minzy and now Bom." He said, now smiling.

"Hey, I didn't hear my name there! Are you playing favorites now?" I said as I pout my lips and crossed my arms over my chest.

"It’s because you're different." He said and my mind went blank.

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