It’s 00:52 AM when Jiyong arrives at home. He throws his car keys to the table and throws himself onto the sofa. He rubs his face and takes off his jacket. Today is really a tiring day. After taking Dara home this afternoon, he and Seunghyun immediately drove his mother to the airport. After that Jiyong was again busy with his work schedule. Of course, throughout the day he kept being chased by reporters who kept asking questions about Dara, but Seunghyun told him not to comment first. They must discuss the next step with Dara.

Since this afternoon Jiyong wanted to call Dara. He wanted to know if the girl was fine, but he didn’t have time. Now he takes the phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. Is it too late to call?

It seems like there’s nothing wrong with trying.

Jiyong presses the number nine and attaches the phone to his ear. His forehead is slightly wrinkled when he hears the voice of the operator who told him that the contacted phone is inactive. Jiyong closes the phone and weighs it up.

Okay, this day doesn’t need to be extended anymore. Tomorrow he will go straight to meet the girl.

After taking a shower and getting back in clothes — an orange loose shirt and white trousers, Jiyong feels more comfortable. Drying his hair with a towel, he walks into the living room and turns on the television. Then he walks to the kitchen which is located not far from the living room and opens the cabinet.

“No food. Why did Mom only buy instant noodles?” He grunts as he pulls out a packet of instant noodles. He turns around, glances at the television, then bends to open the lower cabinet. Suddenly his movement stops and with a single jerk he straightens up again. His eyes widens staring at the television screen.

The television screen displays a female reporter who reports news on the scene. In the background there’s a fire-engulfed building. Firefighters are passing by and the police tries to give order to the people who are gathering at the scene. The atmosphere seems to be frenzied, there are voices and cries of people.

Jiyong grabs the remote and turns up the volume to hear the reporter’s words.

“... until now the fire department is trying to extinguish the fire. We haven’t received confirmation whether the apartment building is empty or not. The fire is so big, we hope all residents have managed to get out…”

Jiyong’s eyes are fixed on the television screen. His body tightens, his heart pounds so hard. This is impossible. It’s impossible that the building is Dara’s apartment building. This afternoon he had just arrived from there. God, say this isn’t true. But the reporter is now mentioning the name and location of the building that is burning. Jiyong’s blood immediately froze.

Without thinking, Jiyong throws the towel on the floor, grabs his car keys, and leaves the house.

He drives the car at full speed, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles turned white. His feelings are chaotic... nervous... afraid. His heart continues to pound hard and his whole body feels cold. He tries to contact Dara’s phone but the results are still the same. The phone is out of reach. Throughout the trip he continues to pray that Dara is okay. Hopefully Dara has come out and hasn’t been hurt. How could this happen? How is Dara? What if…

Gosh, he is going crazy!

When he is almost at the scene, the road is closed so no cars can pass. Jiyong immediately jumps out of the car and runs through the crowd. The atmosphere is chaotic and the air is so hot because the smoke from the flames is so suffocating. Jiyong runs around, looking for Dara. He walks quickly among the people, shouting for Dara’s name. Where’s the girl?

Jiyong turns his head and keeps looking. Suddenly his eyes are fixed on the figure standing a little away from the crowd. The person is only wearing pajamas, staring at the fire-engulfed building with a blank gaze.

“Dara!” Jiyong exclaimed but the girl remains unmoved.

Relief floods him when he runs over to the girl.

“Dara ...” Now Jiyong has stood beside Dara and touches her arm.

The girl turns around in a daze and Jiyong sees her face dirty from smoke. There’s a ray of fear in her big eyes. When Jiyong grabs Dara’s arm, he realizes that the girl’s body is trembling.

“Are you okay? Are there any injuries?” Jiyong asked in a worried tone while watching Dara from top to bottom. The girl is barefoot. Her hair is tangled in her shoulders and her hands are squeezing a wet black scarf in daisy motives. The scarf Jiyong gave her during the fan meeting.

Dara nods still with a dazed look on her face. “Yes, I’m fine,” she said quietly. Jiyong hears her voice also tremble.

Jiyong exhales with relief and immediately hugs the girl. “Thank God you’re safe.”

“I didn’t have time to bring anything,” Dara muttered.

Jiyong stretches out his arms and looks at Dara who seems to be still shaken. “It’s okay. As long as you’re safe, that’s enough. Come on, follow me.”

Dara obeys and lets Jiyong guides her to where his car was abandoned. Dara’s eyes continues to glue to the blazing fire and rolling smoke.

Throughout the trip Dara is silent and Jiyong doesn’t talk to her either. When they finally arrive at his house, Jiyong realizes that his house is brightly lit, the door to his house is still opened and the television had been forgotten because he was so hurried to leave the house.

“You sit here first,” he said, sitting Dara on the sofa. “I’ll make a drink for you.”

When he returns with a cup of warm tea, he sees Dara crying. It seems like the girl’s consciousness has returned to its full extent and the result of the shock has begun to be felt by her.

Jiyong puts the cup on the table, sits face to face with Dara, then looks worriedly at the girl. “Do you feel any pain?”

Dara shakes her head while wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Then she speaks while sobbing. With a little effort, Jiyong listens to the words that aren’t too clear because they were spoken while crying, but he can draw conclusions from Dara’s chaotic sentence.

Dara told him the fire came from the apartment next door. At that time she was watching television and suddenly felt hot and had difficulty breathing. Then everything went awry. The fire alarm rang loudly and people shouted. She panicked and only thought she had to take something to cover her nose and mouth. She grabbed Jiyong’s scarf which was lying beside her bed and immediately ran out of the apartment.

Jiyong hands Dara a box of tissue and the girl accepts it. “Okay, I understand. It’s okay now.”

Dara looks calmer. She dries the tears and cleans her nose. Then she looks at Jiyong anxiously. “What now?”

“There are many empty rooms here. You better stay here tonight.” Jiyong points at the tea cup at the table. “Drink it first. We’ll think about the other problem tomorrow.”

Dara raises the cup with both hands. Even though Dara is still a bit tense, Jiyong sees the girl’s hand no longer trembling. Dara drinks the tea slowly, then looks at her dirty pajamas.

Jiyong clears his throat. “My mother didn’t leave her clothes here, but if you don’t mind, I can lend you my clothes.”

While Dara cleans herself and changes clothes, Jiyong calls his manager and tells him what happened.

“Okay, I’ll be there tomorrow morning,” Seunghyun said before hanging up. “Thank God she’s okay.”

Dara returns to the living room room when Jiyong hangs up. Jiyong smiles a little when he sees the girl’s appearance. Dara wears a white long-sleeved shirt that is oversized for her, and long pants that have to be folded many times. Her face is cleaned and her hair is wet because she had just washed it.

“Can I borrow your phone?” Dara asked. “I want to call my best friend, Bom. I don’t know she had heard about this incident or not. Even if she had, I just want to tell her I’m fine.”

“Of course,” Jiyong said as he hands his phone to Dara. He walks into the kitchen to give her a little privacy, although of course from there he can still hear her.

“Bommie, it’s me,” Dara said. “Oh, you know? ... No, no, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry ... Now?”

Jiyong realizes Dara glances at him briefly.

“Um... I’m at a friend’s house,” Dara murmured, then quickly adds, “Bommie, I want to ask for help. Can I borrow your clothes? I don’t have time to bring anything. I can’t even save my phone ... Tomorrow morning? Thank you very much ... Oh, the address?”

Dara mentions Jiyong’s home address and after that she hangs up.

“What did your best friend say?” Jiyong asked.

“She already knew about the fire and had tried to contact me earlier. She said she could lend me her clothes. Earlier she offered to deliver her clothes here. I hope you don’t mind because I gave her your address.”

Jiyong just shrugs. “She’s your best friend you told me about, right? Who knows everything about us? I don’t think it’s a problem.”

Dara nods and hands the phone she is holding to Jiyong. “Jiyong-ssi, how did you know about the fire?”

Jiyong receives his phone and points towards the television. “From television.”

Dara looks at Jiyong with a smile. “Why is your hair like that?”

Jiyong’s hands immediately touch his head. He just realized his hair is still messy. He remembers he was drying his hair when he saw the news of the fire on televisi