[Bom]

        TOP pulled out my chair like a gentleman, and I graciously smiled at him as I took my seat. We were at a fancy French restaurant on the other side of the town. It seemed so unreal that TOP had asked me to join him for dinner. It was the moment I had been waiting for…forever. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, for fear that it was a dream.

         “Noona, do you remember the time when we stayed up consoling Daesung after his first breakup?” TOP took a sip of his champagne. I was taken aback by this unexpected start of the conversation, but it was TOP I was talking to. He was always so mysterious, so difficult to predict. One of the many things that makes me fall for him every time.

        “I remember.” Daesung had been unwilling to talk to anyone, so the boys and I decided to “break into” his house one night and talk some sense into him. We were unloading everything in the book of breakup consolation, and we ended up talking until four in the morning about what love was.

        “You said…”

        “’Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses’,” we both said simultaneously. We stared at each other for a moment, then laughed softly.

        “Exactly. Lately, I’ve thought about it a lot. Noona...since we grown up with each other, you know me so well. I know that you would always care for me, no matter what…” TOP seemed unsure though, contrary to his words. But I smiled at him in encouragement to show that it was indeed the truth.

        “Of course.” I motioned for him to start talking. I had spent hours deciding on what to wear, and was glad that I had dressed up instead of down. I felt like the leading actress of a movie scene, looking perfect for the perfect moment. This…this was my moment. The moment I dreamt of since I was young. Nervous inside, I had clasped my hands tighter than I intended to.

       “I’ll cut right to the chase,” TOP announced after the waiter left after taking our orders. I tried not to let my giddiness show, but it was hard. He was really going to confess his love for me.

       “I am in love with Sandara Park.”

       “Jiyong, where are you?” I spoke in hushed tones, though I know TOP wouldn’t hear me because he had excused himself to the bathroom.

       “Dinner with Dara and my parents. Why, something wrong, noona?”

       “This is what you’re going to do…”

[Jiyong]

        I’m trying to keep my emotions in check as I walk to the observatory. Dara was admiring the new bushes my mom was blabbing on to her about. I looked at the picnic table. Aha. After making sure that they were busy with their own conversation, I went there quickly.

        Mission accomplished.

[Dara]

        I knew something was off when the moment I walked into the hallways of YG. The staring and whispering was nothing new; I had pretty much accepted the fact that girls don’t like the fact that I hang out with the Bigbang boys. So the jealousy and glaring was something I had expected.

        But something told me, this wasn’t just any simple ordinary day of envy going on.

        “Who does she think she is? Honestly!”

        “The nerves!”

        “She printed it out on purpose? What? To show off?”

        “To make her the top target for us to assassinate, that’s what it is!”

        “Poor Tabi oppa! I wonder how he’s taking this! I know he’s always been really private, and now something like this is all over the school…”

        I frowned as I dialed TOP’s number. It seems like something bad happened to him? Then why didn’t he tell me? I thought we were such good friends! He didn’t pick up. This must be bad. But if I can’t hear it from him, I’ll have to find out myself.

        “Dara!” Han Byul suddenly appeared by my side, wearing the most horrified expression on her face. “Did you see this!? How can something like this happen-“

        “What are you talking about, Han Byul? Where’s TOP?”

        She shoved a flyer to me. “You need to look at this first. I have a feeling this isn’t your doing, but most people wouldn’t think so.”

        I looked at her in puzzlement, but did as I was told. I took a peek at the flyer. It was an image (taken by a phone, I guess) of a conversation. Scanning through, my blood went cold.

From: TOP

        Dara…there’s something I ha