Dara looks for Jiwon at the YG Building to make up for the disastrous night but he's now sure of his suspicions.

• chapter 6 – too much.

Dara hopped towards the pastel pink stereo she kept beside the tv and connected her phone to play some songs to vibe with on that wonderfully sunny day.

She sure didn’t have the greatest morning but attempting to get in a good mood after Wonjun left was still worth trying.

♪ When I think about it, why did I act that way? ♪

♪ What’s so wrong with being clumsy with emotions? ♪

// Like You - Hoody

She finally felt liberated, free.

Dara whirled towards the kitchen. “He’ll like it for sure!”. A big smile appeared on her rosy face, puffing up her cheeks.

She was suddenly reminded of Minzy’s complaints – “Dara eonni, you’re indeed too clumsy!” – when a small puddle of soup formed on the marble counter as she poured it into a small yellow container.

“What if he didn’t have breakfast? He needs something in his belly, it’s the least I can do for being such an inconvenience yesterday night”- Dara kept blabbering to herself as she placed the Tupperware in a cute printed scarf she then tied at the top.

It needed to be perfect. That was the least she could do after last night’s misadventures.

“I didn’t cook it myself but maybe that’s for the best…” – she shrugged, “ I don’t want to poison Jiwon Oppa...”.

meeeoww

She glanced at Dadoong and patted her pet friend on his small furry head, now ready to take off with a great mood.

“I’ll be right back Dadoong-ah, I’ll just drive to YG to deliver this and be right back!”.

[…]

The sliding doors opened for Dara: she finally arrived at YG’s headquarters. Being stuck in traffic for a bit drained her energies but nothing felt more satisfying than driving herself to the company. No driver, no manager. She enjoyed those fleeting moments of “normality”.

“Hwangssabu-nim!”. She sprinted towards her dear personal trainer, like Jjangmae, he was family to Dara. Ssabu was YG’s cool, although strict, uncle.

“Dara-yah! What brings you here? Our workout session is tomorrow morning”. The trainer furrowed his bushy dark eyebrows in perplexity.

“Just here to deliver something!”. The girl announced, almost bouncing in place as her body couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Actually, I have a thing or two to give you, come to the gym when you have a minute”. A fatherly smile lightened Ssabu’s face.

“After you then Ssabu-nim, I’m not in a rush anyway”.

[…]

“I’ll be right back, just wait here, ok?”.

Dara nodded at Ssabu’s and then scanned the room on the look for a familiar face whom she could steal a couple of minutes for a harmless small talk.

“Dara-yah!”.

The woman turned around towards the male voice calling her name.

“Suwon-oppa! Annyeonghaseyo!”. She slightly bowed at the sight of her senior and friend.

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the help of the bright orange towel resting on his shoulder as he approached Dara.

“So... how did it go yesterday?”. Suwon asked, nudging her playfully.

Sandara slowly averted her eyes.

“T-that’s a long story actually...”.

“ What happened? Oh, and did Jiwon learn that… you really like him?”.

“I-I think I told him more than once”. She rubbed the side of her arm in shame.

“Yeah! Did the plan go smoothly then?”.

“W-what do you mean plan?”. Dara looked at her surroundings, just to make sure nobody was overhearing them.

“I told you he’ll loosen up after a drink or two so that he’ll stop pretending he’s cold”.

“Well-…I may have been the one who opened up too much while drunk...”.

“D-did you two already...?”. He covered his mouth in disbelief.

“Of course not oppa!”. Dara widened her eyes at her friend’s hasty conclusion.

“I mean, You know that I start blabbering when I’m drunk... I don’t even care at this point, I just want to apologize for what happened AFTER, with this soup” – Dara raised the packet she prepared with so much care.

“Oh this? He might need some right now. Good thing you have it, you now have an excuse to go talk to him”.

[…]

“Hyung!”.

Jaijin intercepted Jiwon before he could get to the elevator in the center of the hallway.

“Jaijin-ah, did you get a breath of fresh air too?”.

“Seoul’s air is polluted, that’s why I moved to Jeju Island. It’s not fresh here”.

“Forget it”. Jiwon scoffed, 22 years of friendship weren’t enough to get accustomed to Jaijin’s prickly personality. A no would’ve sufficed but then again, Jiwon was the ‘easily getting annoyed’ type.

“You smoked again, didn’t you hyung?”. Jaijin brought a hand to his nose, almost disgusted.

“Since when do you care about my health?”.

“Your health? No- I just can’t stand your stink when we’re closed in the recording studio for hours hyung”.

“Whatever Jaijin, what are you here for anyway?”.

“Your manager is looking for you, I was going to the 7th floor to speak with my in-law anyway so he asked me to look for you here”.

“See ya”.

[…]

Jiwon quietly made his way back to the recording studio, where Dohyun and the technician were probably waiting for him.

Jiyong sure distracted him for a couple of minutes but doubt flooded Jiwon’s thoughts once again.

“Did the plan go smoothly?”.

Jiwon pondered again whether the texting “accident” might have actually been a plan orchestrated by Suwon and Sandara.

“That traitor”.

He had no doubt Suwon was capable of betraying his own leader to help Dara. Jiwon was suddenly reminded of how suspicious Suwon was when talking to her right before their date. He was so startled when Jiwon suddenly approached the two of them in the middle of the conversation.

He leaned against the snack machine. He couldn’t put his mind at rest.

Everything that happened the night before was just a stupid set up. He unknowingly became a puppet, his personal life meddled with once again. As if people constantly remind him of his divorce weren’t enough.

20 years in the entertainment industry taught him how calculating and cunning people could be; using connections and power to get what they wanted was their daily business. No matter how Sandara seemed pure at heart, nothing actually stopped her from being the mastermind of such an idiotic plan. The sudden realization hit him like a train.

“Dara! Here you are again!”.

Suwon's voice felt particularly strident to Jiwon, still tucked away behind the snack machine.

“Hi oppa!”.

“Jiwon Hyung is coming here, Jaijin Hyung just told me”.

“Oh- perfect! I’ll finally be able to talk to him”.

Jiwon tightened his lips, annoyed at the excitement in Dara’s voice.

“Did you bring it? Perfect, wait for him in front of the recording room then”.

“Thank you for all your help Suwon Oppa…”.

“It’s a pleasure, I just want this to work”.

Jiwon scoffed at his bandmate’s words, that was too much.

It was time to confront them.

[…]

“Good morning oppa!”. She flashed her best smile; Dara felt pleased by the ease in which she finally addressed him as – Oppa - again.

“Hi, Sandara”. Jiwon forced himself to greet her, a dim expression taking over his face.

“I’m really sorry for whatever happened last night…”.

Jiwon rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe a word she was spouting.

“I t-thought you didn’t have time to have a proper breakfast this morning… because of me… I brought you some hangover soup”.

“Is that the soup?”. He glanced at the packed lunch she held close to her chest.

“Yes!”.

“Then keep it”. His gaze pierced right through her, freezing her in place.

“You know Sandara… I didn’t think you would do such things”. He continued.

“S-such things?...”.

“To do all of that, just to go out with me? That’s too much-”.

She lowered her gaze, incapable of defending herself. The disappointment in Jiwon’s voice was unbearable.

The door to the recording studio abruptly opened.

“What are you doing here? Come on Hyung, the technician is ready with your track”. Dohyun scolded Jiwon with a stern look.

“Have a nice day Sandara”.

He disappeared behind the glass door.

ps. I'm sorry for taking so long but this chapter was so hard to write, I want to move on to the next plot point of the fic asap.