Starring: Dara Park, Choi Seunghyun(TOP), Kim Jaejoong

A story dedicated to someone who just found out about this oneshot collection. Ah, I’m hurt. Just kidding. Better late than never.

Before you start reading, pay attention to the numbers, er, Roman numerals I placed before each drabble. Hope you like it!

I.

It started out innocently enough.

Dara was in her dressing room, sitting in front of the mirror, trying different expressions as she read her lines when Jaejoong peeked in.

“Want to grab some coffee?” he asked her in that smooth as silk voice of his, the same voice she always admired, and she found it hard to say no, especially when it sounded harmless enough.

It was just coffee.

She looked at the clock pinned on the wall. The staff YGE sent with her won’t be back for an hour, as they were taking their well-deserved break.

“Alright,” Dara replied, closing the heavy script book and securing it on her duffle bag. She grabbed her coat and a stab of guilt made her hesitate, but she made that go away by justifying it to herself.

It was just coffee.

And heaven knew how much she needed it, after an all-nighter of memorizing her lines for her upcoming movie with him. It was such a demanding role, not only to her, but also to him, who has already had his fare share of movies.

She nodded to herself and closed the door behind her.

III.

Dara checked her reflection in the mirror, tilting her head in different directions to get a clearer view of her hair, eyes, and teeth. She lightly patted her chiffon skirt to straighten it and fixed the collar of her white blazer. She turned to her stylist and asked, “Do I look okay?”

The older girl glanced at her, apparently mused by her question, and Dara returned the gaze, a little puzzled on why the stylist was looking at her in a weird way. She turned back to twirling a lock of her hair and abruptly stopped with a frown.

When has she started caring on how she looked?

It has always ticked her agency off on how adamant she was on staying bare-faced, not to mention her preference of wearing white shirt and jeans instead of the girly outfits they were forcing her to wear.

Why the sudden change? she silently asked herself.

It was just coffee.

“Hey, Dara, you ready?” Jaejoong asked as he entered her dressing room.

An image of Seunghyun forcing out words to ask her out sprang to her mind. He had been both parts embarrassed and nervous, and she found it endearing. She remembered his smile at her that morning before she left for work and a stab of guilt made its way across her stomach and landed on her gut. Dara opened to decline the invitation.

“Hold on,” she said instead, and grabbed the coat the stylist handed her.

It was just coffee.

IV.

It’s not just coffee.

She missed Jaejoong and his gestures and the way he’d laugh before choking out a punch line of a joke. She missed his laugh, and his hugs, and sometimes, when she lays awake at night when Seunghyun goes to attend his schedule, she let herself miss his kisses.

It’s wrong, so wrong, she thought as she watched him sip his coffee. He’s a close friend of her boyfriend, and to keep doing that was just selfish, no matter how innocent she tries to make it out to be.

V.

Jaejoong kissed her.

They were sitting by the café they frequently visited during breaks in the shooting, and she was laughing at one of his stories when suddenly, his mouth was on hers.

Strangely, Dara didn’t pull away. Instead, she closed her eyes and let herself be kissed.

Despicable, her mind whispered. You’re absolutely despicable.

His hand curled over hers and she stopped thinking.

VI.

Eggs and bacon.

And pancakes.

Dara woke up to the smell of Seunghyun’s cooking.

She wrapped the blanket around her and stared at the ceiling. The swirling patterns on the wallpaper did little to ease her mind. How could it, when it was her and Seunghyun who made those?

She wondered what’s wrong with her, why she can’t just be happy. Why does she always have to complicate things? She had Seunghyun, who’s a loving boyfriend, didn’t she?

Dara finally stood up, refusing to think more, and walked to the kitchen. The sight of him busying himself when she knew how much he hated cooking made her falter. He was extra attentive to her the past month but every kind gesture he did only added to her guilt.

She could still stop…the thing with Jaejoong.

But she hesitated if she really could.

VII.

This time, it was Dara who kissed Jaejoong.

For months, she has been stealing herself to say goodbye. She allowed herself that one last act of selfishness and pulled him towards her, her lips slanting over his. For a single moment, Dara thought of how perfect their lips fit with each other. But then she thought of how wrong it was. She finally pulled away and looked at him straight in the eyes.

“I can’t do this anymore, Jaejoong,” she whispered.

“I can make you happy, Dara,” he said intently.

“This is wrong,” her gaze dropped. “He’s your friend.”

“I don’t care,” he said, his voice a little rough.

Dara stood up from her chair and was about to walk away, but Jaejoong had already locked her in his masculine arms. She took a deep breath and gently pried his arms off of her.

“I’m sorry, but I love him,” she said and this simple statement made him relax his grip on her. He looked pained and he searched for her eyes. Dara let his eyes meet with hers, and that told him that she was sincere, and sure of what she just said.

VIII.

“I saw you.”

Dara’s fingers froze momentarily on the doorknob when she heard Seunghyun’s voice. She slowly turned to face him and her stomach flipped and her eyes shut when she saw his expression.

“I saw you with Jaejoong,” Seunghyun continued, his fists clenched. Silence stretched out, the air thick and heavy. “How long?”

Dara found it hard to breathe and she looked down at the floor, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Dara, tell me. How long?” he repeated, his voice a little more demanding than before.

She swallowed the lump in and met his eyes.

“Four months.” The glass on the picture frame above him cracked and she felt her vision grow blurry. “But I swear, Tabi, I swear—“

“Don’t call me that,” he hissed and she flinched at the harshness of his voice. “Swear what?” he asked, staring at her with cold eyes. She didn’t reply. “I was never good enough for you, was I?”

She shook her head and reached out for him, but he took a step backward, scoffing.

“All these years, all these years, I have tried to show everyone I deserve you. You and your unchanging love—“he laughed and the sound of it felt like there was a knife twisting in Dara’s gut, “—and you decide to cheat on me with my friend.”

“No, Tabi, you don’t understand,” she said, completely ignoring his warning not to call him by his pet name when panic settled in her stomach. “What you saw—“

“Oh, were you not kissing, then?” he asked mockingly. He stared at her and she found her walls miserably crumbling. Before she realized it, tears trickled down her face and she pressed her fists in her eyes, feeling trapped, feeling completely ashamed of what she has done.

“I’m sorry, Tabi, I’m so sorry,” she finally says through sobs. Why must she ruin things? She thought back on all the things he had done for her—facing the wrath of the company they both belong to, convincing everyone that he’s the one—

She felt his arms wrapping themselves around her and she wept on his shirt. He tilted her chin and she stared up at his concerned eyes and realized that all of his anger was gone.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, his voice soothing. She never felt more ashamed, and she wished that he screamed, because that…that was worse. “We’ll start again, alright? We’ll pretend this never happened.”

Dara’s eyes widened at his words. She felt his tears on her own cheeks and she wrapped her arms around him, her hands trembling.

“Don’t make me feel this way again, Dara.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

“I won’t. I promise.”

II.

Seunghyun kissed Dara as soon as she opened the door and entered their apartment.

She tasted like coffee.

Still, he deepened the kiss and she responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer. He lifted her, bringing her away from the door and twirled her around, so that her back would be facing the open door.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yoona grab the last of her things and ran to the direction of the door. See you later, she mouthed, blowing him a kiss, before she disappeared from view.

Dara was oblivious with all of this. Yoona was as quick and as silent as a cat.

A few heartbeats later, he pulled away and flashed a smile at Dara.

“Welcome home. I missed you.”

Did you follow my instructions? Really?

This quote thingy would basically summarize the whole story.

“I told her I saw her cheat on me. She cried. I don’t have the courage to tell her I cheated first.”