JIYONG

"Acted as Ryong's father?" I echoed Dara's words in my mind. Acted? Why need to have someone to pretend as the father of her son when the father was there?"

"Why does he need to act when your husband was there?" I voice out my thoughts. 

"Huh?" Dara frowned with a confused look on her face. 

"Let me talk to her first, boss," Mino said and grabbed Dara's wrist, but I grabbed her other wrist, stopping Mino from bringing her somewhere to talk about whatever he wanted. I had a strange feeling inside me that whatever he wanted to tell her had something to do about the question I asked.

"Talk to her here. She cannot leave beside me because she's not familiar with the place. 

"What is it, Mino?" Dara asked, but the latter just sealed his lips, avoiding my eyes, and he looked so tense.

"Why not just answer my question? Why does he need to pretend when Youngbae was there?" I asked, not moving my eyes away from Mino, who looked like he wanted to run away.

"This is a personal issue, Ji. I don't want to talk about it in front of your friend." She whispered.  I looked at Allison, Caleb, and Chaerin, and they smiled at me awkwardly. I sighed and nodded my head. But I'll make sure I'll get my answer later. I'm glad Camilla wasn't. 

"Hi! I didn't know that you guys were here. This is Dara, a friend from Korea. Dara, this Allison; she's the daughter of Mr. Miller, the hospital owner I'm building. This Caleb, her fiancee, and Chaerin Mino's girlfriend."

"Hello, Dara. It's nice meeting you." Allison said, smiling. She stood up from her seat and offered her hand for a handshake, and Dara took it, smiling at her.

It's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Asian women are gorgeous, huh? Nice to meet you, Dara." Caleb said, which earned an elbow from Allison. 'Of course, my fiancee is the most beautiful woman in my eyes." We laughed when Allison just scoffed but smiled at Dara. 

"Hello, Dara. It's nice meeting you. At first, I was annoyed at Mino when he agreed to pretend to be the father of your child before, but when I saw his picture, I fell in love with your son. I always listen when Mino talks to him, and he is adorable. I want to meet him if ever I got a chance to go back to Korea."

"I'm so sorry, Chaerin, but thank you for understanding." Chaerin smiled and pulled her in a hug.

After introducing Dara, we occupied the vacant seats beside Mino and Caleb, and I'm glad that Dara seemed to fit in fast in the group.

"Dara, how old are you?" Allison asked, breaking the conversation between Chaerin and Dara.

"I'm twenty-seven."

"Wow! You look so young for your age. You look like a teenager."

"Maybe because I'm small." I smiled when she blushed, embarrassed.

"Not because you're petite. You have a babyface. You're so pretty." Allison said, smiling.

"Thank you. You're beautiful too. I envy your height." She blushed more, covering her face, and chuckled. 

"So adorable." I thought, looking at her.

"You want to dance? It was your first time clubbing. Why don't you enjoy it?" I asked, gulping my drink.

"For real?" Allison and Caleb asked, surprised. 

"I don't have time for this before. I need to work hard and save for my studies because I'm an orphan. I don't want to waste my hard-earned money on this place." 

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Allison said with pity in her eyes.

"It's okay; I'm okay now. Happy and contented with my family."

"Mino, why are you so quiet tonight?" 

"I'm just tired, Boss. I went to the site earlier." He replied, but he was still tense, and he kept glancing at Dara. 

"Wanna dance?" I asked Dara again, watching Mino from the corner of my eyes. I have a feeling that he was hiding something.  How did he know Dara? Are the two of them close enough for him to agree to act as the father of her son? 

"Okay, but I'm warning you. I don't know how to dance." I returned my attention to her, smiling.