Credits go to kurogane, for this amazing poster.

[Twenty Six. In The End (Part Two)]

The waiter arrived in that awkward moment, placing dish after dish on the table before scurrying away from the obvious tension in the room. The sight of the steamy food made Dara want to throw up even though she had been hungry from the photoshoot. Nobody seem to be in the mood to eat.

“Gummy, I appreciate that you mean well. However, I think we should all calm down as we look at this matter. Jiyong and Sandara are of age, and-“

“You cannot possibly be thinking of letting them get their way with this!” Gummy pointed her finger at Dongwook shakily. She cannot believe that his brother took this scandal with such calmness, as if he had known it all along. “Do you even understand the seriousness of this matter? You will lose your job, Dongwook! There won’t be a single school in Korea that will hire you, with this scandal! You will lose everything you have worked for! Goodness knows what could have happened if I had not asked a friend of mine to do some private investigation! If not, you and Byul would still be in the dark about this.” Sneering, Gummy threw Byul a glance of contempt. “Your new wife had been under the illusion that these two are merely close siblings. Very close indeed!”

Byul lowered her head in shame, and it made Dara helpless to see Byul humiliated and heartbroken, completely defenseless against Gummy’s harsh words. Dara wants to shield Byul from the consequences of her own actions, and shout back that it was unfair of Gummy to blame Byul for all this. She is innocent! You can just direct your anger at me, leave her out of this! However, she knew that now was not the time to interrupt, especially not her place to talk back to Aunt Gummy.

Jiyong was about to open his mouth to defend Byul when Dongwook beat him to it. “That’s enough, Gummy.” The authority and threat hinted in his voice, however, was not enough to stop Gummy from speaking her mind.

“When you told me of your marriage, I had warned you before! Didn’t I, Dongwook? I had been against it for your sake, and the sake of our name. This woman is obviously no match to the prestige and wealth of our family.” Gummy shot at her brother. She had disapproved of many things that Dongwook has done, and the one she resented the most was his marriage to a plain woman that she suspected were undeserving of her brother’s love and merely marrying him for his money. This affair had confirmed her biased belief. If Dongwook hadn’t married rashly, none of this would have happened. “You could have married any of the well brought-up ladies from respectable families, and yet you chose someone who had to work three jobs to bring up a child that was not even hers! Now look at what happened!”

“What’s between Jiyong and I has nothing to do with Byul!” Dara was no longer able to keep back her anger at the unfair accusations, glaring angrily at Aunt Gummy.

“Shut up, you insolent girl! Has no one taught you that you cannot talk back to your elders?” The older woman glowered, and Dara bit her tongue from calling her every insult she knew. What a . “See, this is a perfect example of failed upbringing from a woman whose background does not even come close to ours, Dongwook! Byul obviously did not teach her how to respect her elders!”

“So you’re saying that Dara is supposed to sit back and clap while you insult her aunt?” Jiyong said sarcastically. “Wow, how unbelievably good mannered and stupid that sounds.”

“And you!” Gummy turned to Jiyong in exasperation, focusing her eyes on him. “You ungrateful boy! If it were not for us, you would have spent the rest of your days in the orphanage and on the streets! Dongwook took you in out of the goodness of his heart, and I treated you as my own nephew. Is this how you repay us? Humiliating us by your childish acts-”

“Have you said enough?” Dongwook thundered uncharacteristically, alarming everyone in the room. Although Dongwook had never tried to keep Jiyong’s adoption a secret from him, it was a topic he would never bring up to protect Jiyong. He knew of Jiyong’s insecurities concerning his identity, despite Dongwook making it clear from the first day that he was his son. Bringing up Jiyong’s adoption was the final straw for Dongwook. It was the first time any of them had heard him raise his voice. Even Gummy was silenced immediately by his outburst, mouth dropping open at being yelled at by her usually rational and gentle brother. “Jiyong is my son, and Byul is my wife. Gummy, I had told you from the beginning that Byul is a part of our family, and I will not tolerate you acting like this towards her. Nor will I accept you saying those things to Jiyong. You have gone too far.”

“Do you not understand-“

“This is a matter between our family, and we will greatly appreciate it if you would let us take care of it ourselves.” Dongwook’s stern tone clearly indicated that “our” and “we” does not include his sister, and that he will not accept any more of Gummy’s objections. “I don’t think this is a good time for us to dine together. We’ll be heading home, Gummy. You should get some rest after the flight.” Huffing in indignation, Gummy swiftly stalked out of the booth, leaving the four of them in silence. Dongwook sighed deeply. “Now is not the best time for us to talk. I think we should all go home and take a rest. We’ll talk about this some other time.” With that, he got up and left with Byul, who still kept her silence and avoided any eye contact with Dara. Is she ashamed of me? Does she hate me for ruining everything? Guilt gnawed at Dara’s heart. She had thought that she would be the last person to ruin Byul’s dreams. Everything seemed to so hazy and blurry that Dara did not know how Jiyong had led her back to the car.

“Are you okay?” Jiyong asked hesitantly after Dara remained quiet for a while.

“No.” She had thought of closing her eyes, but was afraid that tears would fall down, so she set her gaze on the moving scenery outside the window.

Jiyong put his hand comfortingly on Dara’s knee as his other hand took control of the steering wheel. “If you’re thinking about what the old hag said about you, don’t. She has gone psycho after the divorce with Uncle Wheesung, because he cheated on her with a woman who was poorer and younger than she was. That’s why she held a grudge against Byul for marrying Dongwook. I think she has some serious issues with anything related to love, marriage, or money. I’d prefer Uncle Wheesung over her any day, too bad she never let him see us after their divorce…” He sneaked a glance at Dara, who did not seem to be listening to him. “Dara?”

“Perhaps this was a mistake.” Dara whispered, her thoughts speaking for themselves before she could stop the words from coming out of . She had known it was wrong from the beginning, and yet allowed it to come to this. Now everything was spinning out of control. If it wasn’t for her, Aunt Gummy would not have an excuse to hate Byul. Dongwook would not have fought with Aunt Gummy. It was her who ruined the chances of having a happy family for everyone.

“Don’t you ing say that!” Jiyong snapped angrily. “There is nothing wrong with falling in love! What’s wrong is people who don’t know how to mind their own business.”

“Didn’t you see the way Aunt Gummy talk to Byul and Dongwook? It doesn’t matter if they had nothing to do with it. They would still be judged as if it’s their fault! Being together may be our choice, but it’s hurting everyone around us!” Dara cried. Aunt Gummy was a complete different person from the civilized, smiling lady she had met at the wedding. What would be the reaction of other people at this scandal? She would not care less if their disapproval and mean words were directed at Jiyong and her, because they can take it. But it would drive her insane if Dongwook and Byul were the ones forced to take the blame for it. “Don’t you feel guilty at all?”

“I don’t care,” Jiyong stated icily. “I want to be with you, and nothing can change that. Anyone who has a problem with it, too bad. I won’t change my mind.”

“Even if it’s at the expense of the people we care about?” Dara whispered incredulously. It had been clear from the start that Jiyong would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, especially when it comes to her. What surprised her was how he was unfazed about the fact that their actions were hurting Byul and Dongwook. “How can you be so selfish?”

“I am selfish. I would rather be selfish and hurt everyone in the process of getting what I want than giving up,” Jiyong said flatly. “And what about you, Dara? Am I so worthless to you that you’d give up so easily?”

“That’s not what I mean,” Dara said desperately, her head aching. She hates how it was as if she had to choose between Jiyong and Byul when both of them mean so much to her. No matter what she says or do, she would be hurting the other person. “You know how much you mean to me. But Byul is important to me too. I hate seeing her hurt because of me.”

Jiyong did not say anything, seeming to concentrate on parking the car in place. Truth is, he felt equally guilty when witnessing Gummy yelling at Byul and Dongwook.  It was even worse that Dongwook stood up for them. Jiyong had expected Dongwook to reprimand him, but he did not say a single world of scolding to both of them. However, the guilt was nothing in comparison to what he would feel if he could not be with Dara.

“I have to go talk to Byul,” Dara said as they went up on the elevator.

“Do that later. Give her some time to rest,” Jiyong reminded when in reality he was wary of what Byul would say to Dara. If Byul is against their relationship, then Dara would be forced to choose. As much as he hates to admit it, Jiyong is scared of the possibility that Dara would choose Byul over him.

“Your cheeks are flushed,” Dara noted, putting her hand on Jiyong’s sweating forehead. It was burning. She had been so caught up in the argument at the restaurant that she had not noticed Jiyong looking sick. “You have a fever! How do you feel? Is it bad?”

“It’s just the cold,” Jiyong said defensively. “Sore muscles, runny nose, fever. Nothing new.”

“You’re going to rest. Now.” Dara pushed Jiyong forcefully into his room after they got into the apartment. “Did you take any medicine?”

“No, but-“ Before Jiyong could finish his words, Dara was already out the door to get medicine. Shrugging in defeat, he dragged himself to change into comfortable clothes to sleep in. Dara returned moments later with a cup of warm water and medicine, which Jiyong took obediently as Dara wiped away the sweat on his face with a warm towel.

“Sleep?” Jiyong asked cutely, holding out both arms towards Dara as he lie down on his bed. Rolling her eyes, Dara climbed onto his bed, carefully tucking in the sides of the comforter around Jiyong to make sure he’s warm enough. Yelping in protest, Dara was not finished when Jiyong pulled her down beside him, holding her so close that she could feel the high temperature of his body. “Dara…?”

“Mmhmm?” Dara looked up at his face to find his eyes already closed. She placed one hand on his burning cheeks, then brushed the hair off his face tenderly.

“Promise me,” Jiyong’s voice was so faint that she would not know he was speaking if it were not for his chest move up and down with each syllable. “Don’t leave, Dara…Promise…?”

I want to say yes, Dara longed to give Jiyong the answer he wanted but no words came out of . Why can’t I say it? It was like the time they were at the bar at YG Club. There was some strange barrier between her and commitment. She could not bring herself to promise something she was not sure of. Dara had thought Jiyong was selfish for being uncaring when it comes to hurting anyone but her, but she was also even more selfish, in a way, than him. She hungrily takes up the love Jiyong gives her, but is unable to give him the promises he asks for. Soon, Jiyong’s soft snoring indicated that she was safe from answering, but it did not make her feel any better.

Lying in Jiyong’s secure arms was one of the most wonderful things in her life. There was a strong feeling of loyal, trust, and love. She does not have to worry about a thing here. If she could, she would lie here forever, surrounded tightly by his warmth and the rhythmic sound of his breathing. It was so alluring that she wants to melt in his arms, and forget about everything and anything left in the world. Yes, that’s what she’ll do.

Dara’s phone buzzed, indicating an incoming message.

Dara, come talk to me? I’m in our master bedroom downstairs. Byul

Fighting every part of her that was screaming for her to stay, Dara slowly removed herself from Jiyong’s embrace, careful to tuck the comforter back around him. His sleeping face was peaceful, and despite the heavy feeling in her heart, Dara smiled softly as she closed the door behind her. As she walked downstairs, she tried to imagine what Byul might say, which was difficult as she never had faced situations before where Byul may be disappointed or angry at her. Would she rebuke her for keeping her in the dark for so long? Then beg for her to promise not to continue with Jiyong any longer? Arriving at the closed door of Byul and Dongwook’s bedroom, she knocked hesitantly before letting herself inside.

“Dara-yah.” Despite smiling in welcome at Dara, there was something wrong with Byul. The glitter of innocence and life in her eyes dimmed, and her face looked pale and weak. Sitting down be