The morning after, Dara excitedly went to work, bringing her car with her. She’s looking forward most to her meetup with Donghae. 
Due to what happened last night, Gray didn’t contact her first because he’s giving her the free will to do what she wanted and he’d like to test if she’s really interested or just forced to communicate with him. He was always doing the first move and he thought that she was just responding. He thought that if she liked to talk to him today, she would.

So then he gave her space just for a day and just secretly waited for her message to come through his inbox.

He waited until the end of the day and she didn’t.

Dara was too busy with work so she wasn’t able to message him. Her working day went on like clockwork and she logged out late at night, tired and exhausted. Before going out of the building, she went first to the ladies’ room and dolled up. 
Despite the tiring day of filming, the idea of having something to look forward to after gave her enough energy and stamina to stay awake. She was happy and feeling blessed, thinking that the stars have finally aligned for her and Donghae. 

She then thought of sending the good news to her dear friend as an update. She was proud this time that she finally has someone to show off. 
She sent a mirror selfie of her to Se7en with her being all made up from head to toe. She even did her eye makeup to look nice. Along with the photo, she sent a message, “Sebong! ^^ Guess where I’m going!”

Se7en immediately replied, “This late? O_O”

“Yes. Ack! After work.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going on a date! Kyah!”

“Oh. ㅋㅋㅋ With who?”

“With the guy we’re talking about before.”

“Really? I’m looking forward to hearing what happened. Good luck with your date!”

“I’m excited! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Hah! Fighting!!! ^^”

She smiled, knowing she has Se7en who’s cheering her on for tonight. 
She thought, “Is this it? Is this the moment I’ve been waiting for? Omo!”

Thinking Donghae was the real one for her, she got even more excited. She got inside her car and texted him, “I’ll go to your office myself. I’ll just park nearby so we can go.” then drove towards SME.

Whenever she encountered a traffic light, she always checked her face through her rearview mirror. She began to be self-conscious because she’s finally seeing someone she wanted to see personally after a long time of just phone communication.
She missed him a lot. She missed everything about him. She missed how they used to be before. With a wild hope of it coming back to life again, she kept a happy face and stayed positive for tonight.

For not so long, she arrived near SME building and pulled over to the side then parked. 
She checked her phone to see if he replied and saw his message. Her face immediately illuminated seeing his name on her phone.

His message says, “Okay. I’ll be waiting outside. Take care! See you! ^^”

She looked around and saw Donghae alone in front of SME’s building and looking around. 
He didn’t see her so he didn’t know that she already arrived.
She took this chance to stare at him from her car, without him knowing. She adored his beauty from afar. He was looking good with his white cotton long sleeve shirt, black pants and a pair of running shoes. He was just standing there, with his well-trimmed hair when she was reminded of how she was attracted to him in the first place.
She almost didn’t want to go out yet to stare at him more but she didn’t also want to keep him waiting. With her heart fluttering, she unlocked her doors and held the door handle while planning to come to him with delight, in her head.

She was keeping her eyes on Donghae and was about to come out of her car when she saw that Irene suddenly came out of nowhere and ran to Donghae then surprisingly kissed his cheek. She instantly stopped and was very confused by what she saw. She wanted to think they were just close friends but she thought that close friends don’t kiss each other on the cheeks. 

(Background Music: Opus 37 - Like Crazy     ||     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wii-psngYQw)

She was frozen in her position, holding the door handle and staring at the view from her windshield. Her heart felt like it fell down to her stomach and the ache worsened as she watched them.
Irene linked her arms around Donghae while smiling and he didn’t flinch. It looked so normal for the both of them. They looked comfortable with it.
She wanted to see him react in a different way. She wanted him to brush her arm off. She wanted to see him frown instead but he smiled. The smile she longed to see. The smile he didn't give when they last saw each other. 
She didn’t want to believe what she saw. She didn’t want to accept the truth.
She couldn’t grasp the idea that he already belongs to someone else.

Irene leaned her head on his shoulder while still linking her arm to his. That’s when it hit her.
The harsh reality, the painful lie…

It hurt her to see him with someone else and that she didn’t know anything about it.
What hurts the most is when she realized that she didn’t mean as much to him as she thought she did and she felt so stupid for caring. She felt so stupid for believing that he will come back for her this time.
Her hands shook as she struggled to let the ignition key inside and start the engine. She pitied herself for trying to look good just to see a painful sight. She regretted expecting too much from the start of the day and for looking forward to this time.
The image of what will happen tonight in her head was gone. She never thought it would end up this way.
The scene was too painful for her to watch so she started her engine quickly. Her heart felt like burning more to eternal flames the longer she stayed. 

Because s