JIYONG’S POV

“Let me go,” she said.

But instead of complying, my grip on her arms tightened. “Tell me first! Tell me your reason why you left!” I said, my voice desperate, tears falling on my cheeks.

It was unexpected – me having an outburst like this. Since last night, I had successfully endured it. But seeing how she agreed even without protesting a while ago made me mad. Was she really serious? Did she really move on from seven years ago? Was she even hurt?

Because, for me, it hurts! It hurts like hell! What she did, what she had been doing, and what she was doing right now.

“Dara! Answer me!” I ordered, my voice getting louder.

“Let me go! Jiyong! It hurts!”

“Answer me, Dara! Why did you have to do that?!”

She groaned in pain, her face scrunching at the tightness of my grips on her arms. Suddenly, a hand fell on my wrist.

“She said let go,” he growled.

I looked up to who he was – the guy from last night.

My eyes fell on Dara as my grip on her arms loosened. She stared at the Donghae-guy and then to me, then back to him. She then ran towards the guy’s side as he wrapped his arm on her shoulder. She stared at me with hatred in her eyes as tears started to fall.

“Don’t touch her again,” the Donghae guy growled before they turned around and left.

When they drove off, I turned around and walked without a destination in mind, wiping the tears off my eyes.

“Oh, Jiyong?” it was Taeyeon.

I looked up. “Hey,” I greeted, trying my best not to sound broken.

“Where did you go?” she asked. “I was worried so I came looking for you.”

“I’m sorry. I just…needed air.”

“Oh, are you alright now?” she asked, her voice filled with worry.

I nodded. “Let’s go inside.”

DARA’S POV

The moment we reached Donghae’s car, the tears endlessly and silently poured. Donghae let me cry on my own. Three years of being together made him understand that sometimes, I would like it to be alone.

So far, it hadn’t even reached 24 hours since last night’s meeting, and I had been crying heaps of tears.

He still hadn’t forgotten about it. He still hadn’t even moved on, from the looks of it. Even though it would be a happy moment since there will be a chance to be together because we both still hadn’t forgotten and moved on, it wasn’t a good time to celebrate and be glad. Taeyeon, my cousin, was getting married to him. That meant, if both of us would act on it, she would be destroyed.

If it meant hurting myself, it was alright with me. But hurting Taeyeon, the innocent cousin of mine, it was beyond my capabilities. She didn’t know about this, and would never know about this.

This would be a memory and a secret that I would take to the grave.

I would be prepared to accept all the pain, all the heartaches. I would be selfless… for her and for my family.

I am sorry, Jiyong.

The car reached the condominium’s parking lot but neither of us moved. After a few minutes, I breathed in deeply.

“Donghae, are you going to leave me now?” I asked. I turned to him.

“Do you want me to let you go?” he asked.

“Today, I decided to be selfless. But when it came to you, I am vulnerable. Can I be selfish?” I asked.

“So… you don’t want me to let you go?”

I looked down. I didn’t have the right to restrict him. He loved me all these years and I had used him through those years. I was sure he was hurting already but he didn’t say it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Forget what I said. You can freely choose… whether you want to let go or not.”

Suddenly, she pulled me into a hug, catching me in surprise. “I am not letting you go. If you need me, I am here. I won’t leave you.”

A smiled crept my lips as another tear fell from my eye. I raised my arm and hugged him back. “Thank you,” I whispered. And then I added in my thoughts, and I’m sorry.

“Where are you going?” Donghae asked when I went out of the bedroom in a white dress with black sides to create an illusion of having curves. The dress was hemmed about six inches to make a super y mini dress and I paired it with black converse sneakers. A total off on my fashion but it was a signature of mine. High heels make my feet hurt and uncomfortable. That was why I was stuck with sneakers.

“I need a drink,” I said.

“You need me to accompany you?” he asked, turning around from the television show he was watching.

I shook my head. “I’ll call you if I’m too drunk to drive.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

I faced him and sighed exasperatedly. “Yes, I am. Now, go on and watch your favorite cartoon,” I said, teasing him.

He whipped his head towards the television. “Oh, I was watching that?” he asked as he looked for the remote controller. “I wasn’t watching! I swear!”

I laughed as I left the unit.

In no time, I reached the club I went to last night. But instead of going directly to the dance floor, I ordered a drink first from the bar.

After a few glasses, my head became fuzzy as I finally felt the alcohol hit. Instead of heading to the dance floor after getting drunk, though, like I usually do, I decided to stay on my place. As I ordered another bottle, the bartender looked at me strangely. I just smirked and winked at him as he scampered away.

I poured myself another glass. When I was about to bring it to my lips, a hand gripped my wrist. I smirked as I thought, what took this guy so long?

I mean, I was wearing a y dress, I got make up on my face, I sprayed perfume all over me, I had been wondering the whole night, why wasn’t there a guy approaching me, asking me to dance or something?

I faced him as I was about to ask him what was on my thought. But when I finally saw his face, I immediately became sober.

“Teddy…” I whispered.

He was staring at me with those angry pair of eyes and I was tempted to run away. He looked scary.

“You’ve got enough drinks for tonight,” he hissed.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as my mind couldn’t come up with anything else.

“You only noticed me now? I had been here the moment you arrived,” he said, letting go of my wrist. “Guys had been drooling on you, you know. I had to teach them a lesson.”

I creased my brows. What did he mean by that? I looked behind me as some guys took stolen glances on me as if they were afraid of something. I stared back at Teddy. Was he the reason why there wasn’t anyone who approached me the whole night?

“What are you doing here?” I asked, repeating my question.

“Didn’t I just answer your question?” he asked, ordering a drink for himself.

I just stared at him. I rolled my eyes afterwards. “Two nights of surprises. Wow.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered after a while.

“What are you sorry for?” I asked.

“For everything. Sorry for the things that happened seven years ago and sorry for the things that happened through those seven years.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” I said, about to take another glass of my drink when he snatched it from me and drank it in one go. “But you need to apologize for that.”

He chuckled. “I told you, you’ve got enough drinks for tonight. Young master is going to kill me.”

“Young master?”

He nodded. “He asked me to come here. He said he had a hunch you’ll come back here.”

“He knew I came here last night?” I asked, surprised.

“He was the one who rescued you. I never saw it, but he said a guy was dancing with you, his hands all over your body. It was fortunate though that he was able to snatch you from him.”

I creased my brows, not understanding what he meant. “Wait a minute. He came here? While I was having one of the nights of my life here?”

He nodded. “He followed you out when you left from dinner. And then he found you here.”

“What?! How did he find me here?” I asked.

He bit his lips. “Well, I followed you first and then he called me if I knew where you were. Then, I told him you were here.”

I scowled. “Why did he have to do that? Taeyeon’s family might get suspicious.”

“He must have wanted to talk to you. You know, he was shocked seeing you as Taeyeon’s cousin. He never knew.”

“Never knew?” I asked, scoffing. “You mean he just got engaged to Taeyeon without really knowing her? That’s stupid.”

“He was grieving that time. Madam Kwon passed away. And that was the time he gave you up.”

“Madam Kwon passed away?!” I gasped. “How? When?”

“Heart failure. Three months ago. She had one last will – that Jiyong will marry the woman she chose for him.”

Suddenly, I was thoughtful. It was not love that Taeyeon and Jiyong had from the start, then. It was that witch’s – oh, ehem, I mean – Madam Kwon’s will to let him marry Taeyeon. But Taeyeon looked really love-struck though. Was it the same with Jiyong? Besides, they were together for those three months. It wasn’t impossible for them to fall in love with each other right?

I scoffed. “Why are you saying all of these things to me anyway? I don’t really care, you know.”

“Seems like you do,” Teddy said. “You were asking me questions and were even thoughtful.”

I glared at him. “I was merely curious.”

He scoffed. “Don’t tell me the crap that you have forgotten about him and even moving on.”

“I did! So, deal with it.”

“Really?” he asked, dragging the word as if teasing me.

“YA! What’s with that tone?!” I asked, hitting his arm.

He laughed. “I missed this kind of bickering, didn’t you? Seven years were long enough.”

“It was,” I mumbled.

“And I still believed that you haven’t forgotten about him.”

I glared at him once more.

“I mean, forgetting someone is difficult, you know. Especially if that person had a very special place in your heart. Even if the years were long enough, if what you had before was stronger, it would be very memorable. Don’t you agree?”

I shook my head, but inside I was agreeing. What he said was really true.

“Besides, it’s easy to say, ‘Yes, I have forgotten about him and moved on,’ but it really takes a while to really mean it. And knowing you, how you don’t really mean the words you say and the actions you do, I can bet all of my life that what you just said, you don’t really mean them.”

I stared at him. We didn’t really spend that long of a time together, but why did he sound like he knew me really well? I guess those few months of bickering years ago proved that it didn’t really need long years to know someone.

Suddenly, I stood up from my seat. “I need to leave.”

“Remember, Dara-ssi, it is never too late,” he said. “I said the same words to Jiyong.”

I faced him, my brows meeting in the middle. “You want me to snatch Jiyong from Taeyeon? He’s going to get engaged to her this Saturday. It’s too late now. Everything has been planned. Fate had planned this from the moment Jiyong and I met. So, it’s too late now, alright? I will forever stay as his in-law, nothing more, nothing less,” I said as I caught my breath.

Unexpectedly though, Teddy just smiled, “I told you, Dara-ssi. It takes a while to really mean what you say.”

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