Chapter 5
Level of Amusement

---"That's all for today Sandara." Dongwook had said.

Dara bowed and said her thanks before going out of the KTV room but not before Jiyong told her to wait for him in the parking lot. Irritated as she was to follow his orders, she just couldn't bring herself to get inside her car and drive away without saying a word to him. As much as she hated to admit it, she grew fond of Kwon Jiyong for the past 3 days of training with him and Seven. She and him would constantly argue; with Jiyong picking on Sandara whenever Seven gave her a compliment and Sandara would give him a snide comment to fuel the fire of their fight.

Seven grew fond of the two and would just smile to himself as he listened to the words exchanged. There weren't curse or harsh words, but they were enough to send someone spiraling down towards hell.

Dara leaned on her car door and kicked a stray pebble as she imaptiently waited for Kwon Jiyong to arrive. It was irksome waiting for him like this, but she felt the need to.

Out of nowhere his face suddenly popped in her line of sight.

"You look like Satana waiting to raise hell." He teased, a sheepish grin on his face.

Dara was startled and slighlty jumped in her place. He was mocking her with his expression, obviously laughing. She shoved him away and got inside her car. "I was gonna if you didn't show your ugly face for another minute."

Jiyong inwardly laughed and leisurely strolled on the passenger seat's side before she could start up the engine. He went in and made himself comfortable on the passenger seat giving her a teasing smile as he did.

Dara- who already had her seat belt on- turned to scowl at him.

"You have a car, why are you inside mine?"

Jiyong pointed towards Seven's car a few meters away from them being huddled by a few fans. "Hyung asked to borrow my car because his car was recognized.  He's gonna borrow my low-profile one for a while so I might be riding with you until he returns it."

He grinned as if he was so happy that Seven wanted to borrow his car and not because he's a famous celebrity (no, to him he was just plain old Choi Dongwook-hyung, the bastard hyung that drowned him in chocolate during his noona's 12th birthday party) but because he was given the oppurtunity to ride with Sandara.

"Low-profile? It's a white bentley." Dara scoffed as she watched Seven go out of the building wearing a scarf and sunglasses. He made his way towards Jiyong's luxury car cautiously and got inside. Somehow she imagined him giving a sigh of relief when he was inside the dark-tinted vehicle.

"But it doesn't have celebrity status. Now drive."

"You don't tell me what to do."

Jiyong narrowed his eyes into tiny slits as he and Dara engaged theselves at a stare down.

Dara lost when she blinked her eyes and looked away.

"Get out of the driver's seat."

"This is my car. No." She snapped not looking his way.

"Just get out of it, I wanna take you somewhere." He whined and pulled on her elbow.

She stared at him with doubt not wanting to even move an inch in the seat.

Jiyong rolled his eyes and let her go. "I'm not gonna take you some place where I can you. Just get out of there and let me drive. Just this once."

"No." She said in a firm voice. Why he even give her an example as gruesome as ? That man is seriously sick out of his witts.

She gripped the steering wheel of the car and set her eyes in fron of her.

Jiyong started to make faces at the girl and- though childish- he stuck his tongue out at her. Something he has never done for a very, very long time.

"What was that?" She asked noticing the childish act.

"What was what?" He replied also in a question.

"Did you just stick your tongue out like a three year old?"

She was stifling back  laughter. She was obviously amused.

"Yes I stuck my tongue out... like a boss."

That was it.

Dara's laughter roared inside the car.

Jiyong smiled.

He had always loved the sound of her laughter. Cheesy as it seems, but it was like bells and windchimes to his ears. It calmed his whole being for some reason.

Before Dara could regain her composure, Jiyong's white bentley drove beside the driver's seat of her white range rover. Seeing that Dara was a little busy with trying to hold back joyful tears Jiyong reached across to roll down her window at the same time when Seven did it to his.

Dara froze because Jiyong put them in an awkward position.

"Jiyong, don't forget what I told you, arasso?"

Jiyong nodded his head. "Nae. I'll see you tomorrow hyung."

"I can't come tomorrow. I have to shoot for a music video, but Dara-sshi,"

Dara turned her head awkwardly towards the window.

"I will call to check up on your progress."

She nodded her head. "Okay."

Saying what he wanted to say Seven rolled the windows back up and drove off.

"So I guess there will only be the two of us tomorrow then." Jiyong said turning his body over to face Dara.

It was then that he noticed the position they were in. Her face was only inches apart from his, enough to make him smell her breath that smelled like chocolate from the cake she ate a while ago.

His heart beat fast and her breathing hitched. It was in the moment and Jiyong couldn't stop himself. In a blink of an eye his lips were instantly on top of hers. It was so fast that he left Dara dumbstruck.

After a good 3 seconds, his lips still didn't move away and the sad truth for her was that she didn't pull away either. Her eyes slowly closed as she carefully wrapped her arms around his neck.

Jiyong was a little surprised, but he responded by moving his lips against her own. She did the same thing and she didn't know why. Somehow it felt right and wrong at the same time. She suddenly felt the world turning underneath her feet and yet time stood still around them.

The breathing, the rapid heartbeat, the sound of their smacking lips, as they indulged in a passionate kiss, it was a little too much to bear. Using all her strength she brought her hand up and pushed him away from her. His back roughly hit the windshield and her own back landed on the back rest of her seat softly.

They were both breathing heavily as both their eyes looked anywhere but each others.

"Yes, you should drive..." Dara had said avoiding the topic and steering clear of the awkward air around them.

He ran his hand through his hair as sweat started to bead on his forehead. "Yes... I uhm..." He opted to sit down on the driver's seat but Dara wasn't quite on the other side of the car yet.

She seemed to be struggling with her seat belt.

Jiyong reached out to help her but decided against it since he didn't want to put themselves in the same situation a they were in a minute ago.

She clawed her seatbelt off and scurried to the other side of the car giving him the silent treatment while he took his place behind the steering wheel.

"Maybe we- "

"We do not speak of that ever again." She cut off.

"But that-"

"I said EVER AGAIN." Her voice was icy and her eyes flamed. Jiyong just shut his mouth and just drove. He doesn't know if things would be all awkward between them now that, that happened but he does pray that it won't. Especialy since he's gonna take her to a place where they should be more fiends than enemies.

The drive was silent. Neither Dara nor Jiyong managed a squeek until they arrived at their destination.

"What are we doing here?" She asked eyeing the huge billboard sign that hung above their head.

Jiyong grinned. "We're gonna have some fun." He replied as if the kiss had never ever happened between them and they were just two friends spending time together.

Her lips tugged at the edges urging her to smile but she tried her best not to. SHe won't give him that satisfaction just yet.

"Shall we go in?" He asked her walking ahead to buy the tickets.

She shook her head and chuckled when he was out of earshot. She looked up once again to the billboard sign.

A frown overtook the smile on her face as a sense of melancholy washed through her whole system. It made her think of a childhood friend years back. They too used to go to places like these when they used to spend time together or whenever their father's were on a meeting. She remembered his constant whinning whenever she would pull him towards the ferris wheel because of his fear of heights. No matter how hard she tried she could never have him ride the ferris wheel and they would end up going home without riding it at all. Since then, she promised she would never ride the ferris wheel with anyone else unless he rode it with her first.

"Dara-sshi, are you gonna stare at that sign any longer?" He called holding out two ride-all-you-can tickets in his hand.

Dara stared at him. For a minute there she saw something else standing in Jiyong's place. She shook her head lightly to shake off the thought. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her. After all, the kiss still bothered her a bit even if she didn't seem to show signs of caring at all.

"Calm your big head." She said walking over to him.

"When are you gonna give me nice comments like, handsome face or hot boy?"

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him and snatched the other ticket in his hand. "Keep on dreaming big head."

He shook his head. "Yah, pay for that ticket."

"What are you talking about? This was a gift from my friend Kwon Jiyong." She teased.

Jiyong sheepishly grinned, his eyes turning into tiny slits from smiling too much.

"What?" Dara asked feeling a little creeped out.

He pointed his finger at her, and then pointed it at his chest. "You called me your friend."

"Mwo? You're not the only Kwon Jiyong in the world."

"But I'm the only one you know."

She rolled her eyes and walked away from him to hide the smile that played on her lips. "Yeah right."

Jiyong knew she was just teasing him. He knew that she somehow opened up towards him and he somehow created a crack on the wall she built between them. A few more strikes and this same wall would crumble down to the ground.

"What do you want to ride first?" He asked, catching up to her.

She pointed to one ride after another up until they had practically ridding every single one in the amusement park. They had loads of fun, especially Dara who enjoyed watching Jiyong throw up in the nearest trashbin when they were done with the roller coaster. She's never had this much fun in her life, not since Bom's birthday cake blew up on her face during her 20th birthday.

She laughed a lot. So much that her cheeks started to hurt and her stomache started to churn and it felt like she could no longer stand up from the ground.

Jiyong on the other hand was happy to see her laughing and smiling. It was like drinking water. It satisfied some sort of thirst. But one thing he did notice, that out of all the rides they rode, she purposely avoided one ride in particular. The ferris wheel.

"Why don't we ride that one?"

"Huh?"

Dara looked towards where he was pointing and saw the huge wheel standing there, mocking her to every last bit of her nerves.

She looked away.

"I don't want to ride that one."

Curious, Jiyong asked, "Waeyo?"

"I made a promise a long time ago that I won't ride the ferris wheel without him."

Jiyong's eyes widened with shock. "You've managed to keep that promise for a long time?"

She nodded her head. "Nae."

He didn't pry any longer even if he wanted to do exactly that.

"It's getting late. We should go home." Dara suggested taking a look at the time on her wristwatch.

"All right." He agreed and was about to start walking when a thought occured to him. "Uh... Dara... can you drive me to our penthouse?" He asked a sheepish grin spreading across his face as Sandara gave him an are-you-serious look.

She made a snide remark, but she drove him to his penthouse either way, arousing suspicion inside the house and the house next to them. Sanghyun personally knocked on Jiyong's door to ask why his noona was the one who brought him home. He just shrugged and left him hanging for his needed information, reasoning that he was tired from his little rendezvous with his sister.

That night the said "dragon" slept with a big goofy smile on his face, but that wasn't the case when he started to live a fantasy world inside his mind. A world that unlocked all the bitter-sweet memories of his childhood. It made himtwist and turn on his bed and formed a bead of sweat in his forehead. He could still feel the heat and hear the cries. He woke up the next day with a start and a heavy gasp of breath.

He felt like a little kid trapped in a nightmare while living his own dream.

When he looked at the watch at his bed-side table he saw that it was already time for breakfast. After taking a bath he made his way down to the dining room and plopped himself down on one of the chairs there.

Staring into empty space he remembered the kiss he and Dara had the day before. It felt wonderfully blissful. Too bad it was only short-lived.

He slipped his hand in his back-pocket and took out his wallet. He stared at the picture that's been there for a long time now.

The picture; it was over 17 years old and the edges were folded and worn already but he never replaced or threw it away. It was far too precious in his life that- though the memory of the accident still pained him- he can never bring himself to try and forget her or even accept the fact that he was the cause for the accident itself and their seperation.

He closed his eyes as he pictured her face clearly when he woke up beside her. He managed to get  out of the fire with no major injuries, but she wasn't that fortunate.

Her whole body was covered in bandages as she suffered from second degree burns while he... he only recieved a minor scratch on his left shoulder and few cuts and burns here and there. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that she had to be taken away outside of the country just to have her healed. Her family never returned for a long time until Jiyong completely gave up hope on ever seeing her again, until a certain girl dumped her lunch on him on a certain day and he saw the face of that little girl on that certain someone.

Well he wasn't exactly sure if she was the little girl in his wallet so he looked her up on the school record. It turns out she really was his childhood friend, Sandy. He's been friends with Sanghyun ever since he moved in next to their penthouse, but never did it crossed his mind that he could be the sibling of his first love. Well he never did inter act with the other Park siblings except her, though they knew each other well.

"You're making googly eyes with that picture again Jiyong." TOP had said interrupting his trip down memory lane. Of all his friends in the house TOP was the only one who knew about the girl in the picture, who she was in his life and why she was so important to him.

"When are you planning to tell her that you're Yongie?"

He made his way to the fridge and took out a can of soda pop. He leaned on one of the counters as he gave Jiyong an intimidating stare at the same time of sipping his soda. He looked like an FBI agent getting ready to interogate him or something like that.

Jiyong sighed and pocketed his wallet. "I don't know. She doesn't seem to remember me, but the way she treats me now is like how she treated me when we first met."

TOP seemingly laughed. "Gut instincts."

Jiyong snickered and stood from his seat. He went over to TOP and gave him a light push on the abdomen before taking his soda. He took one sip and leaned on the same counter top beside TOP.

"Well that's great. She doesn't remember me but she remembers how to treat me on the first stage of our friendship."

TOP snatched the can away from his friend. "And that is why there's still hope."

"Hope my . I can't believe my reputation in this school will be ruined by some girl I lost contact with 17 years ago." He said in a melancholic tone.

TOP cocked an eyebrow at Jiyong. "You say that yet you sound like a dude from one of those sappy soap operas."

Jiyong scowled at him and took his soda. "Says the guy who has been slipping sappy love notes in Park Sandara's friend's backpack."

With that statement TOP's expression changed. "You won't tell Sandara that I was the one slipping those notes in Bom's bag right?"

"As long as you don't tell Sandara I was Yongie."

"A'ryt."

They sealed the deal with a simple yet meaningful handshake, but of course Jiyong didn't say that his not gonna drop hints that his best friend was the one giving Bom the love letters.

xXx

Dara was looking for Bom's liquid eye-liner in her bag when she found a pink stationary pressed between her Math book and Music Homework. She stuck her hand inside the bag and took out the folded piece of scented paper and started to read it silently.

Dear Bom,

Love began with Adam and Eve. Told by Romeo and Juliet. Played by Rose and Jack. But it's not over yet. It will be continued by you and me.

From: Over the Top

After reading the letter a wide grin spread on Dara's face.

"Bom, who wrote this?" She asked holding out the paper in between her index finger and middle finger.

Recognizing the pink paper Bom took it from her hand and read it with her eyes. "It's another one of those love letters I've been getting from a 'secret admirer' lately."

She folded the paper and pocketed it returning to her business with eating corn.

"You're not a tad bit curious on who this 'admirer' is?"

Bom shrugged. "Not even a bit. If he reveals himself I'll just tell him I don't like him and that I like someone else."

"And that someone be Choi Seunghyun AKA TOP of Modern Arts department!" Dara exclaimed.

"Exactly." Bom nodded her head, but stopped realizing something. She turned towards Dara with an expression of disbelief.  "How'd you know I had a major crush on him?"

Chae Rin chuckled joining in on the conversation. "Oh please Bom, we all know you have a crush on Seunghyun. The guy's your phone's wallpaper for christ sake."

"You guys touched my phone?"

"Minzy did."

"Chae Rin said you had a copy of our song! It was sitting on top of the coffee table and I just wanted a copy of it, so I took it and when I opened it I saw a stolen shot of Seunghyun-oppa and Dara-noona and Chae Rin was right behind me and..." Minzy trailed off realizing she was already blabbing. "I'm sorry."

"Y-y-you guys won't tell anyone right?" Bom panicked.

Chae Rin gasped. "Bom, I'm hurt. We're your best friends!" She placed a hand on her chest and acted as if she was offended, but Bom could sense the jester in her voice.

"Exactly why I have this feeling. Promise me you won't say a word to anyone." She turned to Dara and pointed her finger. "Especially you Dara-yah. You and Jiyong are getting pretty close after all"

"Who said anything about me and him getting close?" Dara asked a little too innocently.

"I don't care. You've been spending more time with hi lately, so a peep about my little crush towards his best friend is a huge no."

"All right, I promise not to peep about your crush towards Seunghyun."

Though she didn't say Dara was not allowed to say or whisper it. The possibilities ran through her mind maybe this was good revenge for Bom giving away that flash disk? Nah, she doesn't hold a grudge that very long. But there could be a possibility Seunghyun likes her too, he would sometimes catch him sneaking glances towards Bom, but she's not sure yet.

Only one way to find out. Ask Kwon Jiyong and ask she did when they were finally alone inside the KTV room. They both knew Seen wasn't comming so before they could start, Dara already threw him the topic.

"Jiyong, does Seunghyun have a crush on Bom?"

Author's Note:

Sorry it took a little long to update this chapter. The chapterwas longer than I would have anticipated, that's why the writing is a little chappy cause I didn't proof-read this.

Announcement! I changed the title of the story from Mr. Badboy to Played by Fate. Also I will update the foreword regularly and add some character description as the story progresses.

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