CHAPTER SIXTEEN 

Wearing a jacket over her pajama, a cap and a pair of slip ons, Dara steps out of her apartment building after receiving a message from Jiyong that he is waiting for her downstairs. It is already past one in the morning and she wonders what brought him there at this hour. 

She found him in front of the building, leaning against his car with a hand shove inside his pants’ pocket, and staring on the ground. She blows out air, swallows the lump on , and wets her lips before taking a step forward and starts approaching him. 

“Jiyong,” she called out. At this, he raises his head and meets her gaze. He smiles and pushes himself off his car as he waits for her to finally make it near him. “Did you wait long?” 

He shakes his head. “No,” was simply his response. 

“What brings you here’” 

He raises the plastic bag he is holding in front of her. “Do you have the appetite for some late night dessert?” 

She blinks her eyes before a smile breaks on her own lips. “We’re not at the park right now,” she teased. 

Jiyong chuckles and runs his free hand on the length of his nape before looking at the side and biting his lower lip. “Well… I kind of thought that bringing over some pudding is a better excuse to see you than come here with nothing at all.” 

Dara’s heart jumps inside her chest when he meets her gaze once again after saying those words. Silence fills the atmosphere until a sudden cold breeze breaks it. She tightens her hold on the jacket around her figure. 

He was about to his suit jacket and was half-way shrugging it off his shoulders but she immediately stopped him and shook her head, mumbling that she’s fine. He nods his head in understanding and awkwardly stands there, waiting for her to say something. 

She bites the insides of her cheeks and inwardly counts to calm her nerves first before answering. She masks the fast-beating of her heart with a teasing smile. “You can stay longer as long as it’s strawberry pudding you have with you.” 

His expression brightens as a grin stretches on his lips. “Why look at that. Aren’t I a mind-reader?” He pulls out a container from the plastic and shows it to her. “The store only has strawberry ones left.” 

She cannot help but to giggle at how his face lit up with glee. She walks to his side and leans against his car. “You should probably give more credits to the store owner then. He was the one who sold them to you.” 

“Oh, I will kiss him.” 

At the mention of the word, they both stop while staring at each other as their smiles freeze on their lips. Recollection of what happened earlier at the exhibit fill their minds and they both look away, blushing at the thought.  

After a moment of silence, Jiyong clears his throat and slowly hands her the container he is holding. “You better eat—eat it while it is still cold,” he stuttered. 

“Y-you’re right,” she responded, equally flustered. 

He leans back against his car, drawing out a sigh as he pulls his own container. Dara pushes a spoonful of dessert inside as she ponders the thought of taking the opportunity to tell him. Is it the right time? She hasn’t conditioned herself yet but maybe taking up the courage to do it now is better, right? Sooner or later, he’ll eventually know. Why make it hard for her? 

“I like this,” he suddenly uttered, his voice coursed through her thoughts. She glances up toward him and finds him staring at her from the corner of his eyes. 

“The pudding?” She asked. “It’s good, I like it too.” 

He lightly shakes his head, a soft laugh escaping his lips as he turns his body to the side and faces her. He lowers the container to his side. “Yup, it’s good. But what I like more is standing here, eating dessert, and enjoying silence with you next to me. For some reason,” he hung his words and brought a hand to her cheek, pinching it lightly, “I like me better when I’m with you.” 

And boy, his words did not help in calming her now wildly beating heart. The intensity of his stare even made her palms sweat.  

‘That deep inside you, you know that you have also fallen in love with someone. And that someone is Jiyong.’ 

Seunghyun’s words play in her mind as she closes her eyes when Jiyong cradles her face on his hand. 

“I think, I’ve heard of that line from Lauv before,” she said, trying her very best to calm her heart by jokingly referencing a song’s lyrics. She kept her eyes closed when she said those words. 

His chuckle rings on her ears. “I guess I did borrow the words that exactly describe the feelings I feel whenever I’m with you.” 

Slowly, she opens her eyes and meets his gaze, seeing a hint of certainty in them. He stood there, baring numbers of emotions through his orbs that she was quite afraid to name, but her curiosity wanted to overpower her fear. 

Dara opens her lips. “Jiyong,” she called out, determined to finally drop the big revelation. “I have—,” she was about to continue when a blinding beam of light halted her words, followed by a loud honk that made her slightly jump on her spot.  

She turned her head to the side, intending to see the source of interruption, as Jiyong slowly pulled his palm off her skin. She shivers at the sudden absence of his warmth, and she instantly misses it. 

The blinding light lowers as an unfamiliar car stops in front of her building. The door to the passenger’s side opens and she squints her eyes to focus her vision at whoever steps out on that side of the car. 

“Hi, Dara,” a grinning Minji greeted with small enthusiastic waves. Two other presence stumble out of the car, particularly a familiar figure she’s certain is non other than Bom. 

She rushes to them, frowning at the sight of her friends at this hour. “What happened?” She asked, her gaze zooming in to the drunk girl struggling to keep her footing. 

“Bom gave us a phone call earlier and said she felt like visiting the club and getting drunk. She has been ranting about a certain name over and over again. And as you can see, she succeeded,” Chaerin explained after their Uber service left them there. Her friend’s gaze then turns to the man standing behind her. “We didn’t expect that you have a visitor at this time. Hello, Jiyong.” 

“Hi. I just brought some dessert for Dara,” Jiyong explained. 

“Excuses,” Bom murmured. “You really should ing stop making excuses, Choi Seunghyun,” she pointed an accusing finger toward the guy as her voice grew louder. 

“That’s Jiyong, you drunktard!” Chaerin scolded her with a slap on her arm. 

“Sorry about that, Jiyong. She’s been like that ever-since the alcohol completely knock her off her clear-thinking ability.”, Minji apologized. 

“I guess it has something to do with a certain friend of mine?” He guessed, chuckling. 

“Right. She kept mentioning about Seunghyun, Dara, and art exhibit. The ending? This. A mess.” 

He glances toward Dara’s direction, a small smile rests on his lips. “No problem. I am quite used to the mess. Someone out of the many even made an impression,” he responded in a teasing tone, emphasizing the word someone. 

She pokes his side and narrows her eyes at him as the two girls chuckle in agreement. 

“Did we happen to interrupt anything?” Chaerin asked. 

Dara turns to her friends and shakes her head. “No, not really. Jiyong