Credits go to hungry- (from  affamé graphic shop), for this amazing poster.

[ Forty Two. As Long As You Love Me ]

“You leaving already?” Yanggaeng asked incredulously when he saw Dara and Jiyong getting ready to go.  

“Chaerin had just finished her performance. At least wait until she joins us to take a group photo or something before you go,” Choice37 coaxed, not having a clue that Chaerin’s song is about her unrequited love towards Jiyong. He was one of the few in their exclusive circle of friends that was unaware of Chaerin’s feelings for Jiyong.

“We’re leaving now. I have comeback preparations tomorrow,” Jiyong said firmly. Throwing a sideways look at Jiyong’s unreadable expression, Dara got the feeling that Jiyong wanted to leave now because he knew precisely who Chaerin was singing “If I Were You” to, and wanted to avoid the awkwardness when Chaerin returns to their group after performing. She was not sure if it was a good sign or not. Was he mad at Chaerin? Or was he affected by how hurt she was?

“But the party just started. Let noona stay longer. It’s a pity for her to dress up and not enjoy the fun of partying. I’ll drive her home later,” Hyeongseop offered, waiting to hear her approval.

Jiyong narrowed his eyes at the younger man’s suggestion, but no one saw the change beneath his sunglasses. The idea of Hyeongseop driving Dara home was unacceptable to him, but his point made sense. It was one of the rare chances that Dara attended public events where she could have fun and get to know other people of the entertainment business. She had said that she was looking forward to hanging with his squad at the party. He turned to Dara to ask for her opinion. “Well? Do you want to stay?”

With Dara’s strong sense of sensibility, she would choose leaving with Jiyong because she could tell that he was uncomfortable with the idea of staying. But in her current intoxicated state, she felt more rebellious than usual. Despite the rational part of her attempting to convince herself that whatever Chaerin did had no effect on changing Jiyong’s love for her and her status as his official girlfriend, albeit that it was restricted to his close group of friends and not the public, it provoked her irascibility and recalcitrance. She wanted to be consumed with the deafening music and alcohol tonight, and forget about Chaerin, Jiyong, and whatever that had went on or may still be going on between them. She was in a club after all. “I want to stay.”

Jiyong was startled by Dara’s unexpected answer while the others cheered obstreperously. He frowned, but stayed unmoving on the spot. There was no way that he would leave when Dara decided to stay, especially in a club where half the men in the room had been checking out his girlfriend. The lights dimmed, and the DJ took over the scene, playing hypnotic remixes. People in the room started swaying and throwing their hands up in the air. Dara slipped away from Jiyong’s hold as she started dancing on her own, following the music’s rhythm. Jiyong ran his hand through his hair in exasperation when seeing other people surrounding them ogling openly at Dara’s petite figure as she moved back and forth in perfect harmony to the beat, her moves getting bolder with Daesung and Hyeongseop dancing wildly beside her. His body, particularly the lower part of him, was commanding him to get behind Dara and grind everything he’s got into her, especially to get the message across to all the men in the room that Dara was untouchable. But Jiyong knew that he has to refrain from getting too intimate with Dara here if he wanted to avoid their relationship being exposed. The rare moments when I hate my life as a celebrity. Xin came back and confirmed that the people that had been filming in their direction were not invited guests, and may be paparazzi. Although he had already sent people to search for them, they could not be found. There was a possibility that they were hiding in the crowd, waiting for another chance to capture a moment that will make it to tomorrow’s headlines.

“Why so serious?” Soon Ho nudged Jiyong, who was the only one in the group that was not dancing around and enjoying himself. He returned from the bar with two glasses of champagne, and handed one to Jiyong. Seungri and Chaerin appeared back in their circle, and she hugged Jiyong briefly before embracing Dara, who accepted it when she saw that there were no malice in Chaerin’s eyes. Everyone took their turns hugging and congratulating Chaerin on her amazing live performance before egging her on to dance in the middle. There was no signs of the frailty she shown when seeing her last song; instead, she grooved to the beat like a natural party queen and pulled Seungri with her. Everyone, including Dara, hooted when Seungri started popping robotic dance moves. Daesung earned their laughter when he started clucking and dancing like a chicken, and Seungri joined him in his dorky dance. Some male models passed by them after greeting Hyeongseop, eyes lingering longer than necessary on Dara. Jiyong turned his blazing eyes on them until they shuffled elsewhere.

“Staring at someone else’s girlfriend should be illegal,” Jiyong muttered darkly to no one in particular, sipping his drink without taking his eyes away from Dara. The DJ dropped the beat, and everyone responded simultaneously by quickening their dance moves and the tempo of their clapping.

“Yo, yo, yo! GD, you’re not dancing!” Teddy pushed Jiyong so hard that the latter nearly collided with Dara. She gave him a bright smile, a mixture of tipsiness and sweetness. Jiyong was careful to restrain from touching Dara, but he stood protectively behind her to deter anyone from getting too close to his girlfriend.

With another drink in hand, Dara got more audacious by the minute, throwing her head back so that her long hair was flying back and forth as if she was in the middle of shooting a shampoo commercial. He spun her around so that they were facing each other. Jiyong grooved to the beat by moving his shoulders like a boss, his bad- iness transfixing Dara. He had the unstoppable self-confidence of someone that knew he looked good without trying. Feeling her eyes on him, he bit his lower lip like a naughty schoolboy getting caught doing something he shouldn’t be. Without any physical contact, both of them took it up a notch, their moves getting ier on purpose. It was a challenge, and neither of them wanted to be the one to back down. The between them was suffocating. Jiyong cursed when Dara looked straight at him and her lips flirtatiously, murmuring in a tone that no one else could hear, “Babe, you’re . We are going to have a party of our own when we get home.”

Dara giggled uncontrollably at the lust in Jiyong’s voice, but the bad girl in her was determined to drive him crazy with her teasing. She wanted to experiment to see where Jiyong’s limits were. “Who says I’m going home with you, G-Dragon? With so many attractive young men here, I might be sleeping somewhere else tonight.”

Jiyong growled menacingly at Dara’s words, which had struck its target at the center of Jiyong’s possessiveness. Her unusual playfulness was arousing and aggravating at the same time. Before he could move to crush Dara into his arms, the DJ approached their group, waving with his arms to invite the ladies to dance on the stage. Dara and Jiyong’s eyes locked, and the corners of Jiyong’s lips curled into a warning sneer while Dara’s curved upwards in an impish grin. He could read her mind, and he was not liking what was going through her head. “Dara, don’t you dare.”

“Have fun watching me.” Dara winked at him before accepting the DJ’s hand to pull her up to the stage, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Dara raised her glass up in the air, tipping it ever so slightly in Jiyong’s direction as if to toast him, and emptied the liquor in one go before handing it to the DJ, who was so dumbfounded that he took the glass obediently. Seungri and Daesung howled gleefully with laughter at Jiyong’s shocked face when Dara wiped the corners of her lips slowly with sultry eyes resting on him. She became a topic between some male celebrities in the room that were watching the stage, trying to name this girl with the youthful and fresh face. From where Dara was standing, she could see the packed room of beautiful people, and was aware that most of them had eyes on her. She thought of blowing a kiss or winking randomly, but decided against it. She had fun getting on Jiyong’s nerves, but she was not going to go so far as to do something ridiculous just to get him mad.

“!” Jiyong yelled, raking his hand through his hair in frustration, but his voice could not be heard above the loud music. Soo Joo and Chaerin were quick to join Dara, wasting no time in swinging their hips side to side. Fortunately for Jiyong, Dara reined in her dirty dancing, and kept her movements to a minimum of bobbing her head to the beat. A couple of other female celebrities also climbed up on the stage, and soon the stage was crowded with attractive women.

Jiyong sulked by the corner of the stage, waiting impatie