Dara

 

It has been two weeks since the major shopping spree and I still haven't finish getting all the new clothes into the closet. So far, I've been busy with two activities, either training with Jiyong or organizing my office on the second floor.

 

 

The office was nearly done, all I had to do was assemble my desk. IKEA furniture has always been difficult, the instructions
being confusing. There was a knock at my open door and I looked up from the paper filled with directions. It was Jiyong in his workout clothes.

 

 

"It's 5:30." He stated and then asked, "What are you still doing here?"

 

 

For the past two weeks, I've been following a routine. Usually, I wake up at 8, get ready, eat breakfast, and spend time in my room fixing my closet until 12. Then I spend 2 hours renovating my office. By 3, I grab lunch and lounge in the living room until 4. Around 5, I'd meet Jiyong for training that drags on to 8. After training, I'd go shower, eat dinner, socialize and be in bed by 12. However, today I was determined on finishing my office.

 

"This is the last thing I need to do," I answered. "I wanted to finish my office."

 

Jiyong walked over and sat down next to me, in front of all the laid out pieces of the desk. I handed him the instructions and watched him read the directions. He looked up from the paper and examined the two parts I was trying to put together.

 

 

"Dara, those two don't go together." He said, chuckling. "This one goes with this one while that one goes over here."

 

Jiyong took charge and began to build the desk. in no time, the desk was upright and sturdy. I felt accomplished after we
moved it to its rightful place in the room, the corner.

 

 

My office was officially done. It looked like a small hospital. There was a row of hospital beds that were separated by
movable drapes.

 

I don't know how Jiyong managed to get his hands on medical supplies but there were IV bags, syringes, and all sorts of
medicines filling the cabinets.

 

 

"Okay, I'll go change into workout clothes." I told him. "I'll meet you in the gym."

 

 

"I'll go grab Top."

 

 

"Huh?"

 

"You'll see."

 

--

 

"You want me to fight Top?" I asked, making sure I was hearing right.

 

 

There we were, Top and I standing in the boxing ring with Jiyong outside.

 

"Yes, it'll determine if you're done with defense training." Jiyong said. "If you pass, we can move on to other stuff."

 

 

"There's more stuff?" I asked, frowning.

 

 

"What else do I need to learn? I'm just a doctor!"

 

 

"You don't have to beat Top." he said.

 

 

"I just need to see you use the moves I've taught you in real time. Besides, Top is easy."

 

 

"Hey!" Top said, offended.

 

"1-2-3, go!"

 

Top was off guard thanks to Jiyong, giving me an advantage. I punched him at his solar plexus which cause him to lurch forward in pain. Then I kicked him behind the knee, sending him on to the floor.

 

 

I was about to attack again when Top raised his hand, signaling for me to stop.

 

"That's not fair!" He whined, "I wasn't ready."

 

 

"How was the punch?"

 

"Solid." Top said.

 

"Thanks." I said, feeling proud of myself.

 

"Go!" Jiyong said.

 

This time, I was at fault. Top swung at my face. I dodged his punch by leaning back. I was unable to stand back upright
and ended falling backward on my behind. Quickly, I scrambled up. We faced each other, circling the floor as we waited for
someone to make a move. By now, the adrenaline was high.

 

 

I launched my left fist to his face. He blocked my punch. Before I can pull my arm back to my side, Top grabbed my hand and twisted. Pain jolted up from my elbow to my shoulder. I lifted my free arm signaling defeat.

 

"Go!" Jiyong said.

 

The matches against Top continued andnot once did I win. I wasn't badly beaten by him. It was little mistakes that I did
that caused me to lose.

 

"Did I passed?" I asked Jiyong, panting.

 

"Yeah." He smiled, "You did really good."

 

Top wiped off the sweat on his forehead with a towel.

 

 

"You've grown." Top said with a dramatic emotional sigh. He placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.

 

 

I smiled at his compliment. I've grown quite close with the Chaerin, Taeyang, Top, and Jiyong as well as the other members living in the house.

 

"Sorry if I hit you too hard." Top apologized.

 

"No, it's fine." I said, dismissing his guilt.

 

 

It wasn't until I hopped in the shower to see that I've left the matches against Top with some bruises. They weren't
extremely painful, just the occasional soreness as I moved. The bruises covered my sides. I was grateful that Top stayed away from the face area.

 

I walked out of my room in sweats with my hair still wet from the shower. Preferably, I'd wear shorts going to bed. However, the sweats covered my bruises I gained from Top kicking at my legs. Waking down the stairs, I was accompanied by Jooyeon on the second floor. She gave me a fake, sly smile as she walked by my side. I slowed my pace down the stairs until I was behind her.

 

 

I was afraid she'll pull some stunt on me if I had kept walking next to her or, even worse, walk in front of her. From the back, I looked at her silky, long red hair and her figure. My mind thought
of Jiyong. Of course, he'd go after girls like that. She was curvy, shaped like an hourglass. I felt a pang of jealousy as I looked down at myself. My chest was definitely smaller than hers.

 

 

We both reached the ground floor and parted ways. Jooyeon had walked off into the living room as I made way to the
dining room. I felt relieved that I had made it to the dining room safely. In all honesty, I was expecting Jooyeon to hurt me.

 

 

Entering the room that had all the mouthwatering food, I spotted Taeyang, Chaerin, Top, and Jiyong at the end of the table. They had saved me a spot.

 

"What time are we meeting the Furfanti?" I heard Taeyang asked Jiyong as I got there.

 

 

"Midnight." He answered as I sat down.

 

 

Immediately, I grabbed the plate of cannolis. Jiyong's grandmother, sometimes help out in the kitchen. If she was feeling generous, she'd make batches cannolis. They were to die for.

 

"Who's going?" Top asked, food falling from his mouth as he spoke.

 

"Ew." Chaerin said disgustedly. "Don't speak with your mouth full." She hit him in the back of the head to shut him up.

 

 

"Me, you, Chaerin and Tae." Jiyong said.

 

 

"Who's going to drive?" Taeyang said, lifting his glass. "I had some to drink, so I can't."

 

 

I listened to their conversation as I ate. Unfortunately, someone wanted a cannoli and the tray had been passed down to the
other end of the table.

 

"Dara." Chaerin said.

 

I looked at the group because of the sound of my name.

 

 

"Huh?" I asked, wondering why my name had been included in their conversation about the meet.

 

 

"What?" Jiyong asked, frowning.

 

"Dara can be the driver."

 

"No." Jiyong, to my relief, said, "I'll drive. Dara can stay in this house."

 

"Why not?"

 

"She's a doctor, not a driver."

 

 

I nodded, agreeing with Jiyong's statement.

 

 

"Come one." Chaerin said. "That should be the reason she comes with us. What if we get hurt? Beside she finished training
today."

 

I shook my head. I was on Jiyong's side for this one.

 

 

"Only defense training."

 

"She can stay in the car." Chaerin strongly suggested.

 

"No." I said, finally getting a word in. "It's okay, Chaerin. I don't want to go."

 

 

--

 

"Should I park here?" I asked, gripping the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles turned ghostly white.

 

"No." Top said, his voice calming from behind me since that was where he had chosen to sit. "Go a bit more forward, I don't really want to walk."

 

I drove up a couple feet. "Here?"

 

"Dara, just drive and I'll tell you when to stop." Jiyong said in the passenger seat next to me.

 

"Calm down." Chaerin said. It did nothing to soothe my jitteriness.

 

"Yeah, calm your ." Piped in Taeyang.

 

"The worse case scenario for you is a police chase."

 

"If that happens, I'll take over." Jiyong assured me.

 

I glanced at him and gave him a thankful smile. I drove further down the road. We were on the outskirts of a small city. The location of the meet was a surprise, surprise- at an alleyway between two abandon buildings.

 

Jiyong told me to stop and park under a tree which shaded us from the light that came from the streetlight. I relaxed a bit after turning off the engine of the car. To finally stop driving made
my nerves calm. However, I turned to the group and saw that they were holding guns and my nervousness in the pit of my
stomach grew again.

 

"We'll be back in 30 minutes or so," Jiyong said. "Don't drive off anywhere and don't get out of the car."

 

 

Dara

 

The sound of gunshots jolted me out of my sleep. It took a while to understand where I was and what was going on. I had
fallen asleep in the car as the meet up was happening.

 

 

More gunshots that came from the distance turned my blood cold. It came from the direction I saw Chaerin, Jiyong, Top, and Taeyang walked towards. Without thinking, I fumbled with the car keys and started the engine. I drove, following the sound of gunfire in hopes of it leading me to my friends.

 

Realizing what I was planning to do, I stepped on the breaks. Halting the car out of nowhere to sort out my brain. Was I really going to drive straight into a gunfight?

 

 

Adrenaline flowed as I thought of the danger Chaerin, Jiyong, Top, and Taeyang faced. Leaving all hesitation behind, I stepped on the gas pedal and sped forward. My panic level rose little by
little as I passed by empty alleys. Where were they?

 

 

Jumping out of an alley without any warnings, a man in all black ran out on to the street. I slammed on the breaks, stopping the car before it could hit him. Even with my seatbelt to restrain me, the force sent me forward and my head hit the steering wheel. Pain spread all over my skull and I groaned. That was going
to leave a bruise. I recovered and honked at the guy. He cursed and gave me the middle finger before scurrying off. If it weren't for my headlights, the guy would have been a goner.

 

 

I looked to my left and into the space between the two buildings where the man had run out of. Besides Chaerin, Jiyong, Taeyang, and Top, there were about 15 other people. None of them recognizable from YG. In which it meant that they must be outnumbered by the Furfanti.

 

 

They were all separated from each other, shooting at the Furfanti that circled in on them.

 

I gasped as I saw Jiyong fired his gun. The bullet planted itself into a man and the guy went limp, falling to the ground.

 

 

Jiyong

 

Light suddenly brightening the dark alley caused all of us to pause. Everyone lowered their gun slightly as they stilled and looked at the entrance of the alleyway. A silhouette of a car appeared behind the shining headlights that had entered and stopped.

 

Was it the Furfanti's backup?

 

The car started to move. Instead of backing out, it drove straight towards us. The car approached slowly at first but it began to pick up speed. Shocked, the Furfanti began to back up.

 

 

"Correre!" Vernon yelled, telling his men to run in Italian.

 

 

I made eye contact with Chaerin.

 

 

"Dara?" she mouthed the question.

 

I squinted and shield my eyes from the headlights with my hands. I caught a glimpse of the license plate.

 

 

"Guys, get in." I yelled for Chaerin, Taeyang, and Top to hear.

 

 

Dara

 

The Furfanti took it upon themselves to shoot at the car as they backpedaled. Fortunately, the bullets didn't break through the windows. I had already guessed it was bulletproof. It didn't stop
me from flinching as the bullets hit the body of the car. With my safety assured, I drove deeper into the alley. As I advanced on them, they began to back off.

 

However, Chaerin, Jiyong, Taeyang, and Top Aiden got the idea and headed towards me. As soon as I stopped, they hurried
into the car. Jiyong was first to get in, hopping into the passenger seat. His ear was covered in blood from a cut Jiyong
had on the side of his head.

 

"Oh my gosh, Jiyong, are you okay?" I asked as the others piled into the car.

 

"Drive, Dara," Jiyong yelled as he angrily slammed his fist on the dashboard. "Damn it, just drive."

 

I turned around, quickly scanning the backseat of the car to make sure that everyone was here. Then, I sped off. The tension that hung in the air was daunting. I could feel the anger radiating
from everyone in the car.

 

"Sacco di merda." Jiyong cursed in Italian. I heard this phrase frequently around the house and knew it translated to "sack of
".

 

Jiyong

 

What is it about getting attacked of guard? It's two for two now. I looked to my left, Dara was focused on driving. We passed a familiar sign which meant we were roughly 30 minutes away from the house.

 

 

I peered over my shoulder. Chaerin was on her phone, unhurt. Next to her, Top and Taeyang had fallen asleep. They were covered in blood but I assumed it wasn't theirs. If it was from their cuts, they'd be complaining nonstop about their injuries.

 

 

It brought attention to my wound. I opened the car's sun visor and looked at the little mirror in the center of it. By now, the blood had dried.

 

"Is it bad?" Dara asked.

 

"You tell me," I said. I wasn't the one with a medical degree.

 

 

Dara lifted her right hand off the steering wheel and held my chin to keep me from moving as she examined my cut.

 

 

"How did you get it?" She asked.

 

"I don't know."

 

"It looks like a bullet grazed you," Dara guessed. "You're lucky. It could not have missed you and you would've been dead."

 

 

Lucky? I thought about how things would have been different if Dara had not come along. We were outnumbered by a lot and
would have been killed by the Furfanti if Dara had not thought of driving to save us.

 

This wasn't the first time Dara saved my . She helped me the night Kyesang stabbed me. I remembered my first impression of
her. I had thought she was an angel sent from a high divinity.

 

I stared at her, getting glimpses of her faces as light from the headlights of passing cars on the freeway revealed her face from the darkness.

 

For sure, it wasn't me that was lucky. Maybe it was Dara that made me lucky? An angel that was good luck to keep by one's
side.

 

We pulled up to the mafia house around 2:30 in the morning. Top, Chaerin, and Taeyang left the meet unscratched and parted to their rooms. I, on the other hand, ended up in Dara's office. I sat on one of the hospital beds as I waited for Dara to put on
her blue latex gloves.

 

"This time, you don't need stitches." Dara said.

 

With cotton balls and a pair of tweezers, she began to dab on and around the cut. After getting all the blood off, she dipped
a cotton swab in a liquid that caused a burning sensation on the wound.

 

"We need it to dry before bandaging it." Dara told me. "In the meantime, can I look at my other artwork?"

 

"Artwork?" I asked, amused that she referred her stitching of Kyesang's stab as an "artwork."

 

I lifted up my shirt, revealing the scar. Dara ran her gloved fingers over it as she examined.

 

 

Dara

 

"Did the stitches fall out themselves or?" I asked. The stitches used were dissolvable within two to three weeks. It was enough
time for the wound to heal with the help of the stitches.

 

 

"Lorenzo took them out." Jiyong explained, "Before you came, he was kind of like our doctor. He'd patch us up but he never went to medical school or anything."

 

 

"It healed nicely," I told him. Although, there was a huge scar that was left behind but that was inevitable. "Try not to get stabbed there again. It hurts worse the second time it opens."

 

 

--

 

What can you say to Dara's first mission, huh?

 

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