DARA’S POV

I woke up as I felt someone’s breathing brushed against my neck. I opened my eyes and turned my head. As expected, Donghae was sleeping beside me, hugging me close to him. Slowly and carefully, I leaned away from him to have some room to move but when I did, he woke up.

“You’re awake,” he said, panicking as he leaned away. “Are you alright? Are you feeling dizzy? How many fingers am I holding right now?” he asked as he flashed three of his fingers.

I smiled. “Babo.”

“Dara…” he said in a warning tone.

“I’m fine. I’m not dizzy, well, just a little bit of a headache but still fine. And you’re holding out three of your long and slender fingers,” I said, teasing him a little bit.

He sighed. “Dara… be serious. I’m dead worried over you.”

I sat up. “What happened though?”

“You collapsed yesterday morning in the middle of the field. You got fever and you just woke up after…” he trailed off, staring at his watch. “…for about forty hours.”

“What?” I gasped. “Why did I even collapse?”

“You can’t remember?” he asked as I shook my head. “Apparently when that jerk threw his locket to the grass beneath, you went and looked for it, even though nighttime and the heavy rain came.”

I creased my brows as I remembered it clearly. I bit my lip, feeling guilty and a bit silly. But why would I? In this world, it was only Donghae who knew my feelings and what I have been going through so I didn’t have to be.

“Where is it?” I asked my voice soft that I thought he didn’t hear it.

“I was tempted to throw it away but you were too determined to look for it before and I didn’t want to waste the effort you poured for this damned thing,” he said. He fished it from his pocket and gave it to me.

“It’s not a damned thing,” I said as I received it and just stared at it as if it’s the most precious treasure that I had. In fact, it was. “This is the most precious thing in the world and I would treasure it forever.”

I opened the locket and saw my picture. He didn’t even remove it. He kept it. He really did. I smiled even though the tears fell from my eyes.

“I don’t understand you,” Donghae spoke, making me lift my eyes. “He doesn’t deserve someone as great as you.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I gave up for the two of us,” I said truthfully, hurt by my own words. “He did and I would too. This doesn’t symbolize anything of me still hoping. This merely serves as a memory that I could use to reminisce the times we were together. This merely symbolizes that even before he finally gave up, he kept on holding on. At least, there’s this kind of memory, right, Donghae?”

“I never knew you could be this pathetic,” he said, looking away after I saw the hurt in his eyes.

“I had been pathetic since the first day you met me. You’re just being blind. You choose to be.”

“I just don’t understand that even though he’s hurting you, you still choose to be holding on to those memories.”

“At least they will make me happy.”

“Are you happy that you could be satisfied? Are you satisfied with this kind life? You, just looking out to the man you once loved who was going to be married to your sister?”

“I am…”

“Don’t lie to me!” he shouted, shocking me. “You’re not fully satisfied until you have him back! You don’t deserve to love and at the same time, be hurt by a jerk like him. You deserve someone like me! Why can’t you just love me?!”

I blinked as I just stared up at him, tears in his eyes and his whole body trembling.

“I have been here through all those years, loving and hurting just like you. I had been very considerate of your feelings. I had been understanding and just loved you even though I knew you couldn’t love me back. I silently prayed every night that someday you would see me as a man, not just someone you could use if you needed to forget.”

I stood up and walked towards him until I was in front of him. “I had asked you many times to let go and leave. I know how you’re hurting; I know how much you suffered. But, the many times I asked you, you chose to stay.”

“That’s because I was hoping that for once, you would see me as a man!”

I creased my brows. “If you’re tired of this life, you could just leave. We would be better off without each other.”

He shook his head. “You’re not pushing me away, are you?”

“I’m giving you a choice,” I said, my voice turning serious. “You can choose to leave and live a life without me in it or stay and be hurt more.”

He blinked in shock but regained his composure. “I’m tired. I’m tired of being hurt. You say you know how I feel, but I assure you, the pain you know I’m feeling is not close to the actual pain I feel,” he said, turning away. “I wish you luck.”

I watched him as he walked towards the door and I was surprised to feel warm tears falling to my cheeks. Why was I crying, you ask? Because, once again, in just a span of two days, another man walked out of my life. And I couldn’t imagine how I would be living from now on.

I found myself on the bar I frequent, drinking my thirteenth or fourteenth glass, I lost count really. There are just too many things happening lately and it was giving me stress. With the wedding coming close, I feel like I just want to be gone from this world. Seriously…

However, before I could even drink myself into another glass, a hand firmly held my wrist.

“Stop drinking.”

I turned and verified the familiar voice to be Jiyong’s. I slapped his hand away and proceeded to drink. After that, I fished out my wallet and left the cash on the counter before I walked away.

Seeing him here lost my appetite to drink.

I walked as I tried to balance myself. I wasn’t really drunk, maybe just a little. So, I decided to drink the night away and continue it at home.

However, before I reached the exit, a hand held on my wrist again. And I knew it was him again.

“Aiisssh!” I shouted, earning attention from the club-goers but I didn’t care. I faced him and showed the irritation on my face. “What the hell do you need?!”

“Why are you drinking?!” he shouted back, not letting go of my wrist.

“Why do you even care?”

“You’re not fully recovered yet!”

“Mind your own business!”

“You still love me, don’t you?” he asked, his voice becoming softer.

I stopped struggling and stared at him. What was he saying all of a sudden?

“You looked for the locket that I threw. You kept on looking for it all night even though it rained hard. Now, what does that imply?”

I roughly pulled my wrist from his grasp. “That does not imply anything,” I said before I turned around.

I was about to leave already when my eyes caught someone just entering the club with a few men following behind him. He was talking to them and before he lifted his eyes to my direction, as I panicked, my mind told me the stupidest idea it came up with.

I turned around and hugged Jiyong tight.

He seemed shock as I was. But since I already did it, I couldn’t just lean away and make it obvious that I was trying to get away from the man who just appeared without warning.

He straightened up, not hugging me back. He was even almost going to push me away, probably going to snap something cocky or something else but I hugged him tighter.

“Hug me back,” I said.

“What are you doing? After being so stubborn, you’ll be this pathetic? I thought it didn’t imply anything?” he asked, he seemed mad at how I acted just a while ago.

“Just hug me back please,” I said, my voice muffled with my face buried on his chest.

Hesitantly, he raised his arms and hugged me back. “What’s going on?”

“Slowly lift your eyes, but don’t make it obvious,” I instructed. “Do you see a man with a leather jacket?”

He nodded.

“Look down already,” I said; panicking as I felt that he had been staring at him for too long. “He might find it suspicious. Is he still there when you looked up?”

“Yes,” he answered firmly. “Dara… what’s going on?”

I trembled in his arms, scared that he was still there, probably staring at us, and probably had recognized me. “Lean your head near my neck and pretend to be kissing me.”

He did as I told him but I felt myself being pulled.

“Dara…” the guy in the leather jacket greeted me.

I trembled but I forced a smile. “H-Hi, W-Wooyoung. How have you been doing?”

“Fine, still trying to move on from the heartbreak you caused me. I can’t believe that you were actually married even before we got engaged. I was too excited that I forgot to investigate your background,” he said. “Is he your husband?” he asked, eyeing Jiyong from head to toe.

“Uh, y-yeah. Meet J-Jiyong,” I said.

He and Jiyong shook hands and then he turned to me. His eyes looked down and I didn’t know what he was looking at for so long until he smirked and spoke. “You dare lie to me?”

“W-what?”

“He has a ring but you don’t. It’s either you two are in a war or you’re lying to me,” he concluded.

“I-I’m not lying.”

“You’re trembling and you’re stuttering. And I assume that you used this Jiyong right here to pretend to be your husband. And seeing how you just hugged him in the middle of the entrance, I don’t think you’re in war. So, I know you’re lying.”

I trembled more. He found out.

“W-Wooyoung let me explain.”

“You hate me that much? You lie to me because you didn’t want to marry me?” he asked, his voice dangerously low, as he made way towards me, while I just backed away.

Suddenly, he stopped walking towards me and looked down at his wrist, which was actually held on to. He looked up and I did too. Jiyong was there, staring at him menacingly. Jiyong raised his arm and bent it backward.

“Get.lost.” Jiyong said.

And the next thing that happened made me close my eyes and cover my face as I squealed in terror. Jiyong and Wooyoung were fighting, right in front of me. The chaos was too overwhelming that I didn’t know what to do. I felt useless and vulnerable.

“Babo,” I mouthed as I applied the swab on the wound just above his eyebrows. Right now, we were in a nearby convenience store. It turned out that the bar was owned by Wooyoung and therefore, we were kicked out because of causing that ruckus. I was about to get dragged by Wooyoung along with him, if not for Jiyong’s quick instincts as he pulled me away and found ourselves here at a convenience store. Thankfully, no one followed us.

Wooyoung was the man that the old geezer was about to make me marry in attempts of still making me the heiress of his business. He was the one who the old geezer thought that would make me happy from the depressed mood I had back then, back then while I was mourning over the fact that I left Jiyong. I was scared of Wooyoung because, besides that he was head over heels with me, during the times that I tried fulfilling the old geezer’s wish by getting to know him better, he was about to take advantage of my weakness as a woman. He had this side of being an obsessed maniac that was why I blurted without thinking that I was married already. At least he was civil enough to not make a move already after I let him see my ring I wore during that time. Unfortunately, I didn’t think we would meet again and I didn’t use the ring again.

So, anyway, I continued treating Jiyong’s wounds in silence. There was one beside his lip too. Now I’m worrying on what Taeyeon would think about this and also, to think that they’re wedding was fast approaching, these wounds would be visible.

While I was treating the wound beside his lips, he kept on flinching probably from the sting.

“Be gentle,” he complained.

I glared at him. “Aish! Really! All you do is complain!” I said, dropping my hands. “I won’t treat your wounds anymore!”

Unexpectedly, Jiyong chuckled.

“What are you chuckling at?” I snapped.

“This is like déjà vu, don’t you agree?” he asked.

I was shocked at what he said. Actually, what he said was true. I actually felt that way when I started treating his wounds. It was like that time when I went to his dorm back when we were high school when I found out that he got into a fight with Youngbae. I treated his wounds like this before. And he kept on flinching because I wasn’t gentle on treating him and if I wasn’t mistaken, I snapped the same words to him after he complained.

I creased my brows and turned around. “Treat yourself. I’ll be buying an ointment.”

I walked away just after I heard Jiyong laughing like a maniac. What the hell was wrong with him?

As soon as I got the ointment from the racks, I paid for it on the counter. While the lady was packing the ointment, my eyes caught something that they were displaying just beside the counter. I walked towards it and I smiled wildly.

It was a brown bear cellphone strap and it looked just like the bear that mysteriously appeared that time in the park when I found out that Taeyeon was my sister. I was amused that I wanted to buy it but I didn’t bring enough money to spend on things like this, besides, I guess I spent most of my money from the alcohol I drank earlier and the medicines to treat Jiyong’s wounds.

So, with a pout, I walked away and just got the packed ointment that the lady offered to me. Before I could even turn and walk back to where Jiyong was, my phone rang. I fished it out as I saw that the caller was Danny.

“Hello?” I greeted. I saw Jiyong passing by behind me and I moved farther from him.

“Dara? You need to come quick…” Danny said. The next words he said made me shock that I accidentally dropped the ointment that I was holding and I dashed outside of the store.

I stood by the street, looking for a cab to ride. I was frantically waving my hand, getting the attention of any cab that passed by. But unfortunately, each of them either had passengers already or they were already going home because it was already late in the night.

My whole body was already trembling, maybe from the cold or maybe because I was already crying. No cabs were available anymore and I was starting to lose hope. What if… what if I was already late?

No, that couldn’t be!

As I was practically stomping my feet as another cab with a passenger passed by, a warm hand enclosed on my wrist.

“What are you doing here? What happened?” it was Jiyong.

I turned to him and I was sure I looked haggard with the tears filling my eyes and staining my cheeks but I didn’t care. I was already looking pathetic, might as well not hide it. “G-Grandpa… h-he’s…” I stuttered, unable to let the word out of my tongue. “Just… b-bring me to the hospital…please.”

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