“What happened?” YB asked while she continued sobbing on his chest.

“I can’t breath” she gasped. YB pulled back and panicked as he saw her having difficulty in breathing. He instructed her to breathe in and out slowly in a soothing and calming voice. Surprisingly, she was able to follow his instructions correctly. Then, without warning, he stooped down and carried her up, bridal way. She didn’t ask what is he doing or where are they going or why is he doing this. But he preferred it that way. He took the stairs down and quickly brought her at the backside of the building, where there’s a wide space for her to breathe. He put her down but his other arm never left her back. He just let her sob for seconds, minutes, hours. When her sobs slowly died down, he breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Youngbae-ah” she croaked. He remained silent.

“Don’t you want to know what happened?” she asked.

“It’s up to you if you want to tell me” he answered quietly.

“It was really childish. I mean, they just kissed in front of me then I suddenly find it hard to breath. Aish”

“Jiyong kissed her in front of you?” YB asked in disbelief. There’s no need for her to tell him who those persons were, he knew what or who exactly can make her cry like this.

“Well, actually, Jina made the first move. But still, Ji,-“

“What did Jiyong say?”

“Well, I kinda run away . . .So. . .”

“So, you should keep holding on” YB cut off.

“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning.

“Don’t let go, noona. You already won this battle a long time ago”

“Youngbae-ah! What are you talking about? You’re kinda scaring me”

“Stop denying it! Stop denying what you feel, noona. It won’t get you anywhere”

She chuckled lightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, dongsaeng”

YB sighed impatiently. “Your feelings for Jiyong, noona! I’m talking about your feelings for him”

God, can’t she see how much he was hurting right now? And still, she won’t listen.

“My feelings for Ji? I’m not denying that I admire him. He’s a great artist anyway”

“Aish, noona! You really are one of a kind. No wonder we both fell-“ he stopped and looked at her with fear in his eyes. But she was staring blankly ahead with a little sad smile on her face.

“Oh, yes of course I am one of a kind that’s why I looked like her” she remarked. Then, she sighed and looked at him. “You helped me again”

“Well, not really. I just happened to be around when you need one”

“Weird, isn’t it? How you’re always around when I need help or when I need someone to save me from something,” sighs “you’re really the perfect bestfriend a person could ever had. I’m lucky enough to be your friend”

“I think it’s the other way around” he smiled.

“You think so? I’ve never really done anything for you”

“You’ve done so much already, noona”

“Huh?” she asked blankly. He chuckled.

“C’mon, it’s getting colder here. we should go inside. And besides, we still need to attend our rehearsals”

They were on their way to the practice room when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw GD calling. She thought for a while, then decided to ignore it. She’s not yet ready to talk to him. When it rang again, she turned it off.

“You can’t ignore him, forever, noona”

“I know. I’m. . .I just don’t want to talk to him yet” she mumbled. Why? Well, she doesn’t really know why. She was afraid of talking to him.

They reached the practice room. Before entering, she turned to YB.

“Do I look fine?”

He chuckled. “You always look fine to me”

She smiled at him then turned her head back to the door. She was about to reach for the knob when the door suddenly opened.

“Ya! Where have you been? I’ve been calling you. You’re-“ GD stopped when he saw YB beside her.

She chose to ignore him. She turned to YB and smiled again. “Thanks, Youngbae-ah. See you later”

For the whole day, Dara avoided him. Well, it’s not really neded since they were in different practice rooms. More of she avoided his messages and calls and avoided thinking of him. She wasn’t really successful with the last part. But she tried by burying her head and thoughts on practicing and thinking what could be in store for her now that she remembered the talk she had with the boss. He was sending her to another acting training again soon, with YB and TOP. But still, GD’s face kept on popping into her head. And GD was not helping her either. They were just a few minutes away from wrapping up when he arrived in 2NE1’s practice room, looking so serious. He quietly watched them from one corner. She could feel his eyes on her. And when they’re about to go home, he called her.

“Dara, you stay behind” he called, then turned to the girls, “I’ll bring her home” he said with that “leader” tone of his that no one can ignore. But she didn’t listen. She was being stubborn tonight. She went ahead of the girls out of the room.

“Unnie, what are you doing?” Minzy called her from behind.

“Oppa said you have to stay” CL seconded. Dara stopped in her tracks and turned back.

“Pfft. You all know him, he loves to joke around. He was just joking” Dara dismissively said and started walking away from the room again. The girls looked at each other with worried faces but they followed her anyway.

Dara felt a hand on her wrist. She just sigh. She knew he would come after her. No need to look back to know who it was. She knew that touch too much and by the way he was holding her wrist, it looked like YB was right. She can’t ignore him forever; she won’t be able to escape this time. The girls passed by them quietly and hurriedly. When they were out of sight, GD dragged her towards the storage room. He pulled her roughly inside as he closed the door and locked it.

“Are you avoiding me?”

“Yes” she quickly answered without thinking. GD looked surprise. Somehow, he expected her to deny.

“Why?” he asked with clenched jaw.

“Because I want to” she fired back. GD lose his patience. He suddenly pulled her and pinned her against the closed door.

Dara got scared when she saw the look on his face, She was expecting him to do something impulsive. So, when she saw his face nearing, she automatically shut her eyes tight out of fear. But instead, he gently leaned his forehead against hers. She breathes.

“Why are you making it easier for me to decide? Will you please just make me think twice?” he asked.

She opened her eyes and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

He didn’t answer. He just pulled back and looked at her for a few seconds before leaning in to kiss her forehead. Then, he kissed the tip of her nose next. Dara closed her eyes again, not afraid anymore but because she was starting to melt inside. Then, just as she thought, he pursued for her lips. Her lips parted just before he reached it. But when their lips touched for a few seconds, she suddenly pushed him away.

“No” she whispered then opened the door and ran away.

GD was left standing in the room. “Annyeong, Sandara” he whispered and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile. . . .

Dara reached the dorm without the knowledge of how she got there. She automatically went to the bathroom and locked herself inside. She leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the floor. Her trembling hand reached for her lips. It was so different. The moment his lips touched hers, she felt nothing but emptiness and coldness in it. She felt pain. That’s why she pushed him away.

The following morning. . .

Dara was unusually uneasy today. She kept on fidgeting with her fingers or the hem of her shirt or jacket. In the morning, she went to the exercise room and had some session with their trainer. Then, in the afternoon, she went to the studio with the girls. As they arrived there, she saw Teddy, YB and GD inside. Teddy and YB automatically greeted them.

She noticed that GD was unusually quiet. And he kept on looking at his watch. Then, later on, he stood up and said he’ll go ahead of them. Dara froze in her seat. She looked at GD as he passed by her but he didn’t glance at her. When he was already out of the room, she looked at YB who was also looking at her. Then, she stood up and followed him. She half-walk-half-run. Then she stopped when she saw him walking in the empty hallway.

“You’re going to her, aren’t you?”

She saw him stopped, but he didn’t turn around and kept his back on her.

“Yes”, he answered, then started walking again. She bit her lower lip then closed her eyes and run towards him. She hugged him from behind.

“Don’t. . . .” she whispered. “Jiyong, don’t go. Please don’t go”

She felt his hands on her arms. He then removed it from his waist.

“I have to go. She’s waiting for me”

“But why?”

He chuckled then turned around to face her. “Well, isn’t it obvious?”

She didn’t answer. felt locked.

“It’s because I want to be with her, noona”

“B-but. . .what about me? T-the fireflies. . . t-the sunrise. .we. .the sunrise” her voice broke.

“You shouldn't have expected too much and you shouldn't have taken things too seriously, noona. I was just meddling with my time. You were fun to be with and I was bored and depressed. You should have known better”

“You're lying” she whispered in a broken voice.

“I loved her, noona. I’m sorry if you’ve mistaken my actions. I’m at fault also because I just let it happen. But I loved Jina. No one can change that” he said directly looking into her eyes.

“No” she shook her head as tears started falling like there’s no tomorrow.

“Mianhe, noona” he said then turned away. The moment he turned away, her knees gave in. She fell to the floor, kneeling. Her vision was blurry as tears clouded her eyes.

“Ji, don’t”

But he didn’t stop. He continued walking. She listened to the sound if his footsteps slowly fading away as he was gaining distance away from her. The sound of his fading footsteps was joined by her heart. It was like she was slowly listening to her heart as it dies down, slowly fading away. Then, she can no longer hear his footsteps. She can no longer feel her heart either. The numbing, crippling pain started to crawl from her toes all the way to her head; stinging and stabbing every part of her body.
She doesn’t know how long she was there. All she knew is that she heard another set of footsteps. Unlike the first one, this second footsteps got urgency and was quickly moving towards her from behind. A pair of black shoes stopped in front of her. The person knelt in front of her and pulled her gently. She buried her face in the person’s chest as she started crying harder.

“Youngbae, I love him. . .I love him, Youngbae” she sobbed. The realization hit her so hard in the stomach she felt like there was a hole in it. YB hugged her tighter and put his chin on her head as he closed his eyes tightly, letting the tears fall down silently.

“I love him so much. . Youngbae. . Help me. .”

She sink herself deeper into his arms, seeking for the warmth and comfort that he never fails to give her.
One was silently tearing while the other was continuously crying her heart out. But both of them were thinking the same thing: the sun failed to shed his warmth and light for the first time.

----->
A buzzer. Jina went to open the door. ‘He’s early’ she thought as she opened the door. She smiled sarcastically as she saw the person outside wasn’t the one he’s expecting.

“Come in” she invited.

“Is it true?” the guy asked as he followed her inside.

“What is?”

“That you’re backing out?”

“Oh, that. Yes, it’s true” she answered.

“Why?”

She sighed impatiently. “Simple. I fell in love”

The person looked shock. She laughed.

“You. . But-“

“I’m not really in the mood for storytelling right now. I’m expecting a guest today. So, if you don’t mind, let’s talk some other time”

“I want to know the whole truth!” the guy demanded.

She looked at him for a while. “I guess it would be fine to tell you everything since I already backed out. But like I said, not now. So, please, some other time”

The guy hesitated for a while, then, “okay” he agreed.

“Good” Jina said and started walking ahead of him towards the door. The guy was about to follow her and leave when his eyes caught the mess in the table. He stopped and took a better look. His eyes grew wide.

“This is. . .” he whispered, shock.

“Don’t touch that!” the girl shouted and grabbed the things he was holding. “If you want to know the whole truth, don’t tell anyone about this. Now, leave. We’ll talk soon”