CHAPTER 2 - END
THE PROMISE
]“Jiyong! Kwon Jiyong! A familiar high-pitched voice of a teenage girl snapped him out from his dream. He groaned, reached for his pillow and covered his face from the annoying voice as he tried to go back to his sleep. There was no way he won’t be able to kiss Song Hye Kyo even in his dream. But as much as he wanted to go back to his dream, the incessant high-pitched voice kept blocking him with that, he threw his pillow at the source of the sound and dragged himself up on his bed.
He abruptly rubbed his eyes in irritation, kicked his legs out of his blanket and turned to the culprit of ruining his only chance to kiss Song Hye Kyo. There, he saw his friend sat on her on the floor of his room, holding on to his pillow that apparently hit her across her face. He glared at her before he turned to the clock and read that it was only six-thirty in the morning. Freaking six-thirty in the morning! What the hell did she want from him at such early time?!
“What the hell Dara? Why are you here at this early hour? Have you really lost your freaking mind?” He said in between rubbing his eyes and scratching his head, still couldn’t brush off his annoyance. His friend on the other hand stood up from being slumped down on the floor, wore a frown on her pale face before she threw his pillow back to him.
“Why did you hit me?! It hurts!” She whined, approached his bed and got another pillow and started hitting him. He immediately covered himself with his arms.
“I didn’t hit you! I didn’t know you were there! It’s not my fault that your face was on the way!” He tried to reason out, but then he noticed that she wasn’t hitting him anymore out of anger. He could hear her giggling, apparently she was enjoying hitting him that she didn’t care if he really hit her or not. With that, he ducked down, still had one of his arms on top of his head as his shield. He reached for one of her legs and noticed that she was already in her school uniform. He rolled his eyes in disbelief. School will start at eight and she was here already, apparently excited for it.
He pulled one of her legs, causing her to fall backwards with a loud thump as she crashed on the carpeted floor. She shrieked in pain and immediately held on to her head, not bothering to pull her skirt down as it hiked up her thighs. Jiyong laughed at her, his irritation slowly vanished at the sight of his friend. He sighed, not bothering to help her up, he stood up from his bed and was about to walk past her towards the bathroom when Dara suddenly gripped on one of his foot and pulled it down.
He yelled out loud as slowly, he found himself falling on the floor. The next thing he felt was the great pain of his side and a petite yet heavy body hovered over him. He looked up, and saw Dara’s murderous expression on her face as she gazed down him. He glared back at her, which he shouldn’t have done because the next thing he found himself throwing his head back, air leaving his lungs as he started panting and laughing at the same time, his eyes started to wet from tears and his body writhed under her as she started tickling his sides.
“Dara..! Stop..! Fukc! Stop..! Daraaaaaa…!”
They both didn’t care if the whole neighborhood would wake up from their noise, well as if it was new thing for them. Jiyong gasped for breath, his throat strained from pleading her to stop, and his tears started to stream down on the sides of his eyes from the torture. But still Dara wouldn’t stop. She was laughing down at him, her clothes were already crumpled but she didn’t care, too engrossed on giving her friend a complete torture, pleasuring herself from the unreadable expression on his face.
Then, she suddenly paused. Jiyong immediately sighed in relief; his eyes started to swell from crying. After a while, he looked up to her; his chest heaved up and down as he panted. Dara was looking at him with wide eyes, the expression on her face was clear with surprise and he raised a brow at her, confused with the sudden reaction of her.
“What?” He asked, annoyed at the way she was looking at him.
“Jiyong what is that?” She asked him, her expression never faltered a bit.
“What? What, ‘what is that’?” He held on to her hips, about to lift her off of him but her body went frigid and she rested her hands on his chest and kept him down.
“That… that… something’s poking me… under…” Her gaze slowly trailed down between them. Jiyong followed her gaze and his eyes widen as it landed between her legs. With that, he immediately gripped on both sides of her hips and abruptly lifted her off of him and he quickly stood up. He immediately grabbed a pillow from his bed and covered his morning wood away from the innocent eyes of his friend.
Dara looked at him in surprise and watched him as he immediately sped off to his bathroom and closed the door with a loud bang. She tilted her head to the side, confused as to what happened until after a while, a wide smirk formed on her lips as she realized what happened.
“Yah..! You dirty little ert!” She shouted with a laugh.
--
He could hear her voice even if he were still inside the bathroom and when he went down after taking a bath; he had to rub his ears from hearing his friend’s endless babbles as he could hear her talking with his mom inside the kitchen. He sighed before entering, saw his friend seated next to his father who was holding on to a newspaper but clearly had his entire attention to Dara, listening enthusiastically to whatever his friend was telling.
“Good Morning Jiyong” His mom greeted him as she walked towards his Dad and Dara, holding on to a pot of warm coffee.
Dara looked up from her pancake and flashed Jiyong a wide smile before pulling the chair beside her, and told him to sit beside her. In return, he stuck his tongue out and sat across her instead. Dara immediately pouted at him while his parents shook their heads and smiled at their childishness.
“Finish your pancake.” He told her with a stern voice that left her pouting at him but dug on to her pancake in the end.
He watched her until his mom brought him his food. He smiled when finally, his friend learned to keep shut even for a second. He couldn’t believe that even though it was almost every day that she was in his house, he still couldn’t get used to her noise and especially her liveliness. It was unnerving! Since they were kids, she was always everywhere around him. Whenever he was, she was there as well; would always stick herself on his arm like a tarsier and wouldn’t get off until she needed to go to the restroom or she had to go home. Sleep was his only escape from her, but then there were times that she would have the nerve to invite herself for a sleepover at his house. As if he could stop her for even before he could, she would already be tucked in his bed and already in deep sleep.
Yet, no matter how unnerving she could be, how annoying she could be sometimes; he won’t stop from loving her. She was his best friend after all. That same chubby little girl that told him she would only let him be her friend, as if she already had one, if he could keep a cat that she picked from the streets for the whole week because her parents didn’t want pets inside their house. Though their cover was immediately busted, and in the end she ran away with the cat; had her whole family worried about her; that same chubby little girl that he found that night after a whole day of looking for her, inside his closet, hiding with her cat. And if not because her cat pooped, he wouldn’t even find her; apparently she didn’t mind suffocating from the stinky smell as long as she could keep her cat. And by then, seeing her there inside his closet, hugging the cat like it was her own child he knew he should keep her; at least to keep her away from doing another foolish thing. She probably aged, which definitely be only in numbers but still she was the Sandara Park that he met twelve years ago, still noisy, carefree, and still his best friend.
--
“Oh my god… I can’t wait to see Bom, CL, Minji and the others!” Dara shrieked in delight as she hooked her arm with Jiyong as they started their way towards their school. Jiyong winced, pulled back a bit, sparing his eardrums even though it was already too late.
“We just hanged out with them last night” He rolled his eyes as he got her bag and slung it over his shoulder. Dara turned to him and pouted, squeezed his arm which caused him to wince again.
“But it’s different. Last night… or yesterday we were still like middle schoolers in some way. We’re in high school now!” She shrieked again in joy, tugging on his arm. So, that was why she was so early this morning. It was their first day in High school; still on the same school since kindergarten, of course. As if he could do about it. His parents, Dara’s parents and especially her, were all like in some kind of pact to keep them always together.
“I don’t see any difference about it. Same people… same school. God! Don’t you get tired from doing the same thing over and over again?” He whined.
Just then, Dara suddenly stopped which caused him to stop as well. He turned to her and saw the confusion on her face as she stared at him.
“I don’t. As long as I’m doing those things with you, I won’t mind doing things over and over again.” She told him, ended it with a small smile.
Jiyong was left speechless. The frown on his face slowly vanished until his expression went… just blank. He stared at her; his gaze wandered over her face, observing it, looking for a hint of joke. And when he didn’t find any, he cleared his throat and immediately turned his gaze away. He pulled her hand away from his arm; Dara almost pouted, thought that she annoyed him again or something but her thoughts were immediately swept away when Jiyong held it with his other hand.
“We don’t want to be late on our first day” He started to walk, dragged her with him as his pace went fast. Dara watched his back for a while, remembered the day he did this same thing with her. He had grown big now, but still… he was still that handsome kid in tuxedo years ago, who gave her so much surprises that her little mind could take, and the one who promised a lifetime with nothing but happiness with him.
--
Well, being in the same school with her wasn’t a bad thing after all. Since all of their friends were also in the same school as them. But being in the same class with her… was already too much. Not that his parents or her parents had something to do with it. For apparently even though Dara childish, she was still as smart as him or any section one student in their batch; thus, making them both in the same class.
And as usual, they were seatmates. Jiyong sighed and turned to his other side where luckily Youngbae, one of their friends was also their classmate, saving him from listening to Dara’s nonstop prattles. He tried to distract himself from listening to Dara while the latter on the other hand was too busy talking to her other seatmates, already charming them to be her friends.
Just then, suddenly the once noisy classroom went silent. Dara and Jiyong both looked up, their gaze directed to the reason of the sudden silence. There, they saw a beautiful young girl standing near the door of their classroom. Jiyong’s eyes slowly widen, his lips parted, and his expression became filled with so much admiration. He tried to blink his eyes, hoping that he was just hallucinating, but then his attempt became futile as the angel was still standing there, looking around her with a shy look on her beautiful face.
Dara, on the other hand, tilted her head to the side, her lips slowly curved into a sweet smile upon seeing an unfamiliar place in their town. The girl looked so beautiful that she, herself couldn’t help but be starstruck. But the smile on her face slowly vanished once she turned her gaze to her friend. She didn’t know why, but the sight of Jiyong staring intently on the new girl pinched her inside. She couldn’t say a thing, she should be prattling by now but she felt tongue-tied as her gaze drifted back to the girl, saw her stared on their direction with a smile on her face, only to realize that the girl was smiling at Jiyong. And when she shifted her gaze back to Jiyong, the painful pinch inside her chest grew worse when she saw his lips curved out into a beautiful smile. She couldn’t help but wonder as to when was the last time Jiyong smiled at her like that.
--
Dara was silent the whole period, her mind was filled with different thoughts that she, herself couldn’t understand. She was busy observing her friend, pouted from his lack of attention for he was too busy looking at the new girl, Ahn Sohee.
It was unsettling her. Dara had never seen her friend act like this. Sure, Ahn Sohee was beautiful… apparently all the boys in their classroom were immediately smitten by her beauty but Jiyong, he was different… he should be different. For as far as she knew, he wasn’t easily be swayed by just the appearance. But looking at the things right now, he was nowhere different from the rest of the boys, for it seemed like Kwon Jiyong fell in-loved at the first sight of Ahn Sohee.
“Come on Ji… let’s go have some lunch! My mom cooked a lot today for the both of us!” Dara enthusiastically told her best friend, tugged on his arm as soon as the bell rang. Jiyong chuckled at her beaming face and was about to go with her when his gaze drifted to Sohee, who was busily arranging her things and checking her schedule.
“You go first. I’ll try to catch up later.” Jiyong told her, patting her cheek with his hand. He didn’t even mind looking at her as his gaze was still set towards Sohee. He’ll try? She thought to herself. A gasp escaped her lips when Jiyong pulled his arm away from her grasp and in less than a second, he was already beside Sohee, helping her with her things.
Dara’s brows furrowed, her lips slowly formed into a frown as she watched them. Why was Jiyong doing this? Why was he acting like this? It was hurting her, even though she didn’t know why…
She was about to call for him when she felt an arm wrapped around her shoulders and when she looked up, she saw Youngbae smiling down at her.
“Come on, let’s go” He said with a smile as he got her bag and turned her around. She looked back to her friend, pouted her lips again when she saw that Jiyong was now busily chatting with Sohee.
--
The appearance of Ahn Sohee in their lives suddenly changed everything. She became their friend in an instant when one time Jiyong invited her in their bench during lunch. She was a real charmer, had their friends immediately liked her and had Jiyong falling for her even more. Dara watched her friend. She watched Jiyong slowly drifted away from her, but she didn’t say anything, for she didn’t know what she will feel once she asked him about the matter; if Jiyong had a crush on Sohee, if Jiyong had truly forgotten about his promise. She could still always drop by his house every morning, but now, it felt so different. Everything that came out from Jiyong’s mouth was all about Sohee. Sohee that. Sohee this. She missed him scolding her; of him saying “Dara you should not”, “Dara you should do this”; or even just his outburst on her.
“Well you know, he’s your best friend. But it doesn’t mean that he’ll forever be at your side.”
Bom told her one time during lunch. Jiyong wasn’t there because he said that he’ll help Sohee with something. Dara wanted to come with her, but as usual, if it was not Youngbae, it would be her other friends that would drag her away. It felt like they were all ganging up on her and was keeping her away from Jiyong.
“What do you mean?” She asked in confusion. The others sighed at her absentmindedness.
“It means that, sooner or later Jiyong will have a girlfriend, you will have a boyfriend. But it seems like it came to Jiyong sooner than we had expected. You should be happy for your best friend Dara” Automatically, her lips curved into a smile by the mention of ‘she should be happy’ but the smile on her face immediately vanished as she realized her friend’s words.
Girlfriend? Why would Jiyong need a girlfriend when she was already there to keep him company? She asked herself.
“But what about his promise? He promised that he’ll cherish me… that he’ll stay by my side” She mumbled as she looked down.
“What promise?” She heard someone from her friends asked. She immediately looked up, a frown dragging on her lips.
“When we were kids… he promised that he’ll always stay by my side. That he’ll marry me once we grow old.” She could feel her voice shaking, her eyes started to ache as tears filled it. Her head spun towards CL when she heard her friend let out a chuckle.
“Dara you still remember him promising that to you? Aigoo… it’s so cute! I can just imagine you both… so little, having a pinky promise. But anyway, kids say whatever they have in mind. I doubt Jiyong could still remember that and if he remembered it, I’m sure he’ll deny it.” CL told her.
“Oh I remember Daesung oppa told me back then that he’ll bring my puppy back to life but there goes my puppy, probably is now just a dust under the ground.” Minji said, earning a laugh from everyone but her. The others started to tell their stories about their childhood and their ridiculous promises to each other. Dara just stayed silent. Her gaze fell over her lap. She bit her inner cheek to keep herself from crying, the last time she cried was when her cat passed away… which was two years ago. And after that, Jiyong had always been the source of her happiness but now, seeing that she was slowly losing Jiyong, broke her apart that all she wanted to do was to cry.
“Can’t he see that I love him?” She mumbled with shaking voice. Everyone in the table went silent, their heads immediately turned to her. Bom, who was next to Dara had her eyes wide open as she realized what Dara said. She immediately wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulders.
“Oh Dara…” Was all she could say while the others started to comfort her.
--
Jiyong was in cloud nine. He couldn’t be any happier. Meeting Sohee was probably one of the best moments in his life. She just made him smile whenever he would see her. She was beautiful, inside and out; so graceful… and her modesty made him giddy like a schoolgirl. Her smile was like of an angel and her eyes, he wanted to look at them for as long as he can… he knew; he was totally falling for her.
“Jiyong” Dara’s voice woke him up from his trance. He turned to her and smiled. They were walking together on their way home, which now, wasn’t as frequently as they did before. He was always with Sohee, would always walk her to her house after the class. And now, that Sohee needed to stay at school for her club activity, he was back in accompanying his best friend on their way home. And he must admit. He missed Dara… even her annoying noise. Did she gain weight? He couldn’t help but notice. And now that he noticed some changes in her, he also noticed that her visits in his house every morning was not as frequently as before.
“Jiyong, this Saturday you’ll come with me right? We’ll visit Dadoong together, right?” Dara’s voice was hopeful. Her face beamed in anticipation and he couldn’t help but to smile at it again. Never did he imagine himself missing his best friend like what he was feeling right now. Her innocence and her ‘shallowness’ were the things he truly missed from her.
“Ah… of course, sure.” He told her, and there she saw her smiled. He almost stopped on his tracks upon watching how her pink lips curved into a sweet smile. He was wrong, nothing beat her smile. There was just something about it that made him shiver inside and would leave him begging to see more of it. That was probably the reason why he would always let her have her way, for he wanted to always see her smile; for it always put a smile on his face as well.
They continuously walked in silence. He tilted in head in confusion. Was something wrong? He couldn’t help but wonder. Dara wasn’t her usual self. She didn’t drape herself to him like a tarsier the way she always did before; she stood next to him with almost a feet away from him. She was not as noisy as a bee and she was not as lively as a puppy today. He stared at her and he saw her almost looking down on the ground as she walked, she didn’t even give her bag when he asked to carry it for her.
“Why are you so silent today? Are you okay? Are you sick?” He asked her worriedly.
Dara looked up to her. Her eyes filled with sadness but Jiyong never noticed it. She shook her head and only told him a simple ‘no’. He expected her to say more but she just looked away and continued to walk. His brows furrowed, she was so odd today, he thought but he didn’t bother asking her again. Until they reached her house she was still as quiet as rock. It was really making him uneasy.
“Dara, is there something wrong? You’re not your usual self today. Did something happen?”
Dara looked up and saw the worried expression on her friend’s face. She shook her head again and smiled. Jiyong wasn’t contented, but he let it go; he didn’t want to upset her more. He decided to just let the day pass; probably tomorrow she will go back to her own self. He was about to go when Dara called him. He immediately spun around, waited for her.
“Jiyong, do you like Sohee?” Her voice was as weak as a whisper that Jiyong had a hard time hearing it at first. But realizing what she asked him, a wide smile slowly curved on his lips upon the thought of Sohee.
“Yes I do. She’s just so amazing… don’t you think?” He told her excitedly that he didn’t even noticed her flinched.
Dara felt her insides crushed at the sight of her friend happily talking about another girl. She bit her lower lip, forced herself not to feel hurt from what was happening. And after battling with herself, she plastered a wide smile on her face.
“Yes, I think she’s amazing.” She told him. Had to watch for her breathing for she could feel her chest tightening from the unbearable pain she could feel inside. Just then, she gasped when Jiyong suddenly cupped her face between his hands. He was looking at her in alarm.
“Why are you crying?” He asked her. And she had to blink for her to know what he was talking about. And he was right, she was really crying. She wanted to slap herself from being unable to control her emotions.
“Uhmm… my… stomach hurts. It’s been like this since earlier.” She pulled back from his grasp and immediately wiped her tears with her hands but her eyes won’t stop from crying. Jiyong looked at her in worry but she just laughed at him.
“I probably ate too much earlier at lunch” She prayed for her eyes to stop crying but as if her body wasn’t hers anymore, it wouldn’t follow her orders. Jiyong tried to reach for her again but this time, she stepped back and told him she’ll be fine. Jiyong sighed and nodded.
“Okay… you go inside now and rest okay? Take some medicines and txt me once you’re okay.” She just nodded at him kept her gaze away from him. She didn’t even wait for him to go as she already turned around and ran inside their house. Her mom saw her crying, asked if she was okay but Dara only ran past her towards her room. She locked herself inside and continuously cried.
--
The rest of the week gone so slow for Dara. She tried to focus herself on studying but she can’t help but torture herself from watching Jiyong and Sohee together. She grew quieter each day that even her other friends had noticed the difference in her. They tried to entertain her but she would always end up looking for Jiyong and always end up heartbroken whenever she would realize that Jiyong was with Sohee.
Jiyong only saw her as a friend. And no matter how painful it was for her, she should accept it. But sometimes she couldn’t help but wish that she could go back in time. The time wherein she was the only one in Jiyong’s eyes, the time wherein Jiyong was still a boy, so honest with his feelings and still that proud kid that promised her that he would always stay beside her. After all this years, between the both of them, she realized that she was the only one who was still living in the promised that he made, that even though other people saw it childish, she lived by it, it was the purpose of her happiness; it was the reason why she was so carefree, careless about the future for she thought, her future will be with Jiyong. But apparently now, she was not the future that Jiyong had in his mind and probably in his heart.
--
Jiyong was busily looking for something to wear. Later tonight he will meet with Sohee and watch a movie with her. The thought of his first date was tickling his insides and especially with Sohee as his date, he just couldn’t wait for the night to come. Suddenly he heard a knock on his room’s door. He was still thinking of what he should wear as he walked towards it and opened the door.
And when he saw who the person on the other side was, he was immediately put to a stop. He gasped and his eyes widen for a moment; he thought he saw an angel that he had to blink his eyes for a couple of times just to realize that it was his best friend.
There was Dara, standing on his doorstep; wearing a pink strapless floral dress that reached her knees. Her hair hung on her shoulders and when she moved, it fell to her back, revealing her pale skin. She was not wearing any make-up but still she looked perfect. And he had to gulp down from too much exposure of her skin. God she was beautiful… but the more he looked at her, angrier he got. What was she thinking wearing such short dress?! And she was revealing too much of her chest and back!
His brows furrowed and he immediately grabbed her hand and pulled her inside his room.
“What’s with the dress?” He asked her as he eyed her from head to toe. He wanted to go to his closet to grab a sweater and drape it around her. Dara raised a brow and pouted.
“Hi to you too, Jiyong” She retaliated back. Jiyong groaned, walked towards his closet and finally grabbed a sweater. She handed it to her which in return she stared at with furrowed brows.
“Wear it.” Jiyong ordered her in a flat tone. Dara immediately crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.
“Dara… wear it.” He approached her but she stepped back.
“I don’t want to! What’s wrong with my dress? And that sweater looks so hideous Jiyong, there’s no way I’m going to wear it” Jiyong glared at her before he approached her again and this time he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Dara struggled as Jiyong started to clothe her with his sweater.
“That dress barely covers you! And you even dared to go out from your house wearing that! Oh no way you’re getting out of here wearing only that.” He released her after she was covered with his sweater. He even zipped it up to her neck. Dara immediately run towards the mirror to check herself. turned wide open as she saw herself totally covered by his sweater. She turned to Jiyong and glared at him.
“You covered the whole dress!” She whined. Jiyong raised a brow towards her and smirked.
“You better not take that off or else I’m going to shred that dress into sheets. Where the hell did you even get that?” Just then his gaze landed on her legs and Dara needed cross it together from his scrutinizing gaze.
“Wear some pants” He said coldly. With that, Dara snapped.
“No way! I’m going to keep the sweater but no way will I wear pants!” What was up with him? She always wore skirts in school so why was he acting like this. Jiyong sighed before rolling his eyes.
“So… what’s with dressing-up? Are you on a date or something? You haven’t told me anything.” The thought made him irritated a bit. Seeing hsis friend in company with other guys aside him and their friends made him uneasy sometimes. And there was a time when, even with their guy friends, he couldn’t help but be irritated seeing her smile at their jokes. He was probably just too jealous seeing that his friend could be happy even without him.
Dara flinched. Did he forget? And upon realizing what he just told her, her brows knitted together. She wished she had a date… at least to keep her away from thinking about him even for just a day. And if there would be one, why would Jiyong be surprised as to why she wasn’t able to tell him; when he was always so busy with his Sohee.
“Did you forget what day today is?” She asked him, her voice started to sound with disbelief. Jiyong tilted his head to the side, trying to remember what she was talking about. And when he remembered it, his eyes widen and his gaze immediately turned to her.
“Oh God… I’m sorry… I totally forgot” It was Dadoong’s death anniversary, as Dara called it. Jiyong promised to always accompany her whenever she would visit her cat’s grave which was a two-hour drive away from their house. It was also like a day for the both of them to hang out with just the two of them alone. And now, seeing that Jiyong forgot about it, she couldn’t help but be disappointed. She pouted and glared at him.
“It’s okay, good thing I dropped by. We could still go. If we’ll leave early we could get there before the sun sets down” She smiled at him. Jiyong groaned and put a hand behind his neck. He rubbed his nape, wanted to pound himself for forgetting about it. Dara watched him in confusion, was there something wrong? She wondered.
“Dara… I can’t go today” He told her, his eyes filled with sadness as he looked at her.
“Why? What’s wrong? I even reminded you days ago” Her voice started to sound hurt. Jiyong flinched and gritted his teeth.
“I’m supposed to see Sohee tonight. We’ll go watch some movie… Dara I’m sorry… we could just go tomorrow-“
Dara shook her head. Upon the mention of Sohee, the expression on her face changed. A deep frown tainted her beautiful face.
“How could you do this? You promised.” She mumbled as her gaze slowly fell to her feet. Jiyong sighed, really hated himself for forgetting.
“I know… that’s why I’m really sorry… there’s always tomorrow. I promise to-” But Dara wasn’t even listening anymore. She continuously shook her head, not wanting to hear any more of his promises. It wasn’t even about going today or not. It was about him, always breaking his promises to her. And upon seeing Dara’s reaction, Jiyong snapped.
“Stop being so childish, will you?! It’s not as if there won’t be another time to do this! That was just a damn cat! It’s already dead Dara, and whether we go there today or not, it doesn’t mean anything anymore!” He panted after letting out his frustrations. He can’t just always do what she wanted once she whined. She was just so childish that it was too much for him to handle anymore.
He watched as her shoulders tremble and he gasped when he saw tears dropping down from her eyes. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.
“You didn’t even make him a house…” She mumbled between her tears. Jiyong opened his eyes and stared at her.
“You promised me… that you’ll make him a house… but you didn’t.” Jiyong’s expression slowly calmed as he realized what she was talking about.
“Dara…” He called to her, about to reach for her when he was stopped from his tracks when Dara suddenly threw something on his face. He caught it before it fell on the ground and when he opened his hand, he saw a familiar red ribbon.
“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep Jiyong.” She stared at him, tears running down on her cheeks. And even before he could make a word to say, Dara immediately turned around and left.
--
Jiyong held the ribbon in his hand. He’d been sitting on his bed for minuted now and Dara’s crying face haunted his mind, leaving a painful lump inside his chest. He didn’t even know if he wanted to go out tonight. He just couldn’t take knowing that he had hurt his best friend. But on the other hand, he was sure Dara don’t want to see him right now. With that, he looked for his phone and contacted Youngbae.
“You want me to take her to her cat’s grave?” Jiyong sighed and said yes.
“Why? You got into a fight?” Youngbae asked.
“Just accompany her now, Bae please. I don’t want her to be alone right now and I think that place would make her a bit happy. I’m sure she didn’t want to see me right now.”
In the end his friend agreed. But still, it didn’t lift up Jiyong’s mood. After a while, he received a txt from Sohee, asking him if they will still go out tonight. Breaking one promise was enough so even though he still felt bad for what happened between him and Dara, he told Sohee that he’ll pick her up later.
Going out that night wasn’t a bad idea. At least it helped him to forget what happened even just for a while. Sohee’s company had really helped; she made him smile and made him giddy but when he brought her home… when she kissed him, which momentarily caught him off guard, as if the spell suddenly broke.
He felt his heart skipped but only because he was surprised when she did that. And while she was kissing him… he couldn’t help but compare the feeling to the kiss he had tasted years ago, in the middle of the garden, with none other than his best friend. He felt nothing as realization came to him that Sohee was kissing her, the hair at the back of his neck didn’t stood up, his heart didn’t race as if he had run a couple of miles, and when the kiss ended, he didn’t beg for more, unlike the one he had when he was still a child. It felt so plain… and so wrong.
The night ended with him thinking what had gone wrong? Sohee was beautiful, she made him laugh; but why it felt so wrong when he kissed her?
When he reached his house, he looked over to Dara’s house and saw that all lights were turned off, even in her room. He wondered if she was already asleep, thinking that it was still too early. He wanted to check on her after all. With a sigh, he entered his house, he was about to go upstairs to his room but then he heard his parents inside the kitchen talking to each other with such serious tones in their voice. He went to them to greet them good night but when his mom saw him, she immediately ran towards him and enveloped him in a hug. Jiyong was startled and suddenly he felt an unexplainable fear starting to creep out on his bones.
“Mom… what’s wrong?” He asked. His mom squeezed him a bit before she released him. She cupped his face between her hands, tears filling her eyes.
“You’re acting weird mom. What’s wrong” He tried to let out a laugh and unconsciously his gaze darted towards the window that overlooked Dara’s house. He could feel his heart pounding inside his chest and all he wanted was to run towards his best friend’s house and check on her.
“It’s Dara… she and your other friend were caught in accident earlier…” Jiyong’s face froze. His smile faltered and his blank immediately went blank just hearing Dara’s name. He could hear his mom explaining the details but he was too blank for his mind to register it. He turned around… panted as he started to walk towards the door of his house. He wanted to go to Dara’s house and check on her but his mom stopped him as she held him tight in her embrace; his father walked up towards them, wrapping his arms around him as well.
“Where is she… mom… where is she?” He was supposed to take care of her. His voice sounded like a whisper as he felt his strength leaving his body. His father told him that Dara was in the hospital.
“I want to see her.” He called, tried to walk towards the door but his parents stopped him.
“We just came from there. You don’t want to see her right now Ji… please. She’ll be fine. Just calm down okay…” His mom was crying now, and the more she told him that, the more he wanted to see her. He struggled, yelled, blamed himself and pleaded for his parents. In the end they both released him.
“Darling, don’t blame yourself.” His mom caressed his head as she hugged him again. They all went to the hospital and during the ride, Jiyong was all quiet.
“A truck lost its break and hit their car.”
“It’s not your fault Jiyong. Nobody knew that this will happen…”
“She will be fine…”
But for him, it was his fault. If he just accompanied her, probably this won’t happen. If he didn’t pass her to someone else, this won’t happen. If he hadn’t broken his promise, this won’t happen.
He felt his knees weakened once they reached where Dara was. Dara’s parents were seated on the waiting area, her mom was crying in the arms of Dara’s dad. Jiyong couldn’t even look through the window of the ICU where Dara was, and when he did… he almost didn’t see her. There were a lot of monitors and tubes around her. His hands were shaking as he leaned on the window to see her more and his heart almost crushed at the side of her. Her head was covered with bandage, her blood, staining the white cloth. And her face, her beautiful face was all covered with bruises.
Tears filled his eyes and the next thing he realized, he was bawling. He wanted to go inside and hug her, tell her that he was sorry, that he won’t leave her side anymore, and that he will keep her from getting harmed. But it was too late, no promise could bring everything back the way it was.
--
“Jiyong…” Jiyong immediately grasped Youngbae’s hand. His friend’s face filled with bruises, his neck was braced, and almost his entire body was covered in bandage but luckily his state was not as bad as Dara. Jiyong smiled at his friend, told him to just rest.
“How’s Dara…” Youngbae struggled to speak. Jiyong closed his eyes by the mention of Dara’s name, controlling himself not to cry. Two days had already passed but still she hadn’t waked up yet. Their friends visited every day but Jiyong stayed in the hospital for almost the entire two days. He only went home to sleep and just because his and Dara’s parents pleaded him to.
“She’s fine. All you need to do now is to recover, don’t think about anything else” He smiled. He felt Youngbae squeezed his hand.
“I’m sorry Ji.” Jiyong shook his head.
“It’s not your fault Bae… I shouldn’t have asked you to take care of her. It’s my fault” He heard Youngbae let out a long sigh, his friend closed his eyes and Jiyong thought he was going to sleep, but then Youngbae suddenly spoke.
“She loves you Ji.” Jiyong blinked his eyes and had to lean down to hear what his friend just said.
“Dara loves you.” Jiyong gasped but didn’t say anything. He just smiled at his friend and told him that he should rest.
--
“You love her don’t you?” Sohee suddenly spoke, bringing him back from his trance. School was different without Dara, his house was different without her, but most of all, his life was different without her. It felt so grey… felt so empty.
“Of course, she’s my friend.” He mumbled, not meeting her gaze. He flinched once he felt Sohee’s hand on his cheek, lifting his face to meet her gaze; he couldn’t do anything but to comply.
“What would you gain from denying what you’re feeling?” Jiyong just stared at her, while Sohee smiled at him.
“The look on your face when I kissed you, you felt it too right?”
“What?”
“You felt how wrong it was.” Jiyong let out a gasp, and once again, Sohee smiled from being right. She let go of his face and looked away.
“Have you kissed her? Have you kissed Dara before?” His gaze faltered and gave out a small nod.
“What does it feel like?” Jiyong took a long while. He closed his eyes as he remembered the day he got his first kiss.
“Warm… it felt so warm. My heart pounded as if it will break out from my ribs, it kept pounding, it drove me crazy. My head felt heavy and I thought it would explode from so much warmth… it felt so good, that the moment it ended, I wanted to taste it again. But I didn’t know. I was still a kid. I forgot how it felt like until I kissed you. It just felt so different.” He heard Sohee chuckled and he immediately opened his eyes and stared at her.
“I’m sorry” Jiyong mumbled, earning a nod from the girl.
--
Days passed and Dara was transferred to a different room wherein she could be visited by her family and friends. But the tubes and bandages were still attached to her body, her bruises were still clear and she was still in deep sleep. Jiyong stayed by her side, talked to her in sleep, hoping that she will wake up and be back to them… to him.
He missed her voice, no matter how noisy she was, he missed her childishness; the way she whined, the way she would pout at him whenever she wouldn’t get what she wanted. It would be better than her sleeping like this... so far away from him. He held the ribbon in his hand as he reached for her hand. The bruises on her hand were now healing. He raised it to his lips and kissed it.
“Hey. When are you going to wake up huh?” The sounds of the machine answered him, and he smiled to himself.
“You know, you were wrong… I didn’t break my entire promise to you. There’s still something that I haven’t done yet. How could you give up so fast? So… now, you should hurry up… wake up now, or else I’ll find another bride.” His lips started to tremble until the next thing he found himself crying again. He buried his face on the sheets beside her, gripping on her hand. He chanted sorry, over and over again until his tears stopped.
“Please Dara, wake up now. I miss you”
--
Jiyong woke up from the loud knocks on his door. He groaned, and rolled himself off of his bed. He lazily walked towards his door and opened it. A wide smile plastered on his mom’s face and she welcomed him with a tight hug.
“Oh Jiyong! Dara finally woke up!” Jiyong immediately pulled himself out from his mom’s hug and looked at her with a stunned expression on his face. He rubbed his eyes and wanted to even pinch himself, thinking that he might probably be dreaming.
“Her mom called earlier. She woke just now. Jiyong… Dara finally woke up.” His eyes widen, ached as tears filled it again. And he didn’t wait a second to pass as he sped downstairs. He was still wearing his pajamas, his hair was disheveled from his sleep but he didn’t care. He had to see her right now! His dad was already waiting in the car once he got outside; already expecting that Jiyong will surely dash just to get to Dara.
He ran towards her room with a wide smile on his face. His heart was beating so fast he thought he would have a heart attack. He had a lot of things to say to her. But when he got to her room, found her seated on her bed, her back facing him as she looked out the window, all thoughts left his mind. His body was shaking from both running and longing. She probably heard him for she slowly turned around.
Jiyong’s heart skipped and took a deep breath as he finally saw her looking back at him. Far from the sleeping Dara that he looked over for what seemed like forever. There were some scars left on her face but still, she looked as beautiful as the first time he saw her. He bit his lip as he entered her room. She looked at him with a confused look on her face and he wanted to laugh at her, because of the way she looked at him but he was put to a stop when the words that left struck him as hard and as painful as being struck by a lightning.
“Who are you?” Dara asked him, her voice was so soft that it tickled his ears yet so painful that it almost tore his heart apart.
“Dara… it… it’s me… Jiyong…” Was he not? He wanted to check himself on the mirror. Probably he just looked so horrible now that she didn’t remember him from the last time she saw him. But even when she heard his name, she just tilted her head to the side and looked at her in puzzlement.
His knees almost failed him. He had to step back and steady himself as he gripped on the wall. It couldn’t be? Just then, when he thought his world would finally collapse, Dara’s lips slowly curved out into a wide grin.
“Just kidding.” She told him, followed by a loud chuckle. Jiyong just stood there. Holding on to the wall, couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Oh Jiyong you should’ve seen your reaction! Ha-ha! Well, I’ve seen it in dramas, where you know the girl will fall into coma then when she wakes up, she’ll like… have amnesia..! It’s like my dream to try that. I was supposed to try it earlier with my parents, but when I woke up mom was hysterically crying that I didn’t have the chance to do it. Oh Gosh! Am I a good actress… do you think I should audition… your reaction was just… epic!”
Jiyong just stared at her, dumbfounded. It was too much. He wanted to sink on his knees and bawl. God! She finally woke up… and oh how much he missed her prattles!
“Jiyong…? Are you okay? Just, how long have I been sleeping?” She looked at him in worry. Jiyong approached her, didn’t even blink his eyes for the fear that she might disappear once he did. She stood in front of her, with her still sitting on her bed.
“My body felt so sore… I can’t remember exactly what happened… and oh my God!” She shrieked; her hands reached up to the bandage around her head. Jiyong smiled at the expression of her face.
“I didn’t notice this earlier. Am I bald?! Did they shave my head?” Jiyong reached for her hands and placed it down on her lap, his gaze wandered around her face… observing her face. Oh God, she was really here. He thought.
“What’s wrong? You’re acting so weird, do I look hideous? I’m sorry for being so childish… I know I’ve been a pain in the but Jiyong… I just… I…-“ Her words were cut as Jiyong leaned down and sealed her lips with his.
Dara’s eyes widen, she wanted to raise her hand but Jiyong held them down on her lap, squeezed her hands as he tilted his head and kissed her more. After a while Dara slowly closed her eyes and let herself be drowned in the wonderful feeling of his lips against hers. It felt as if, something that had been returned to her; something that a little black-haired boy stole from her years ago. She immediately opened her eyes and stared at him in surprise after the kiss ended.
“Why did you do that? Did you… did you just kissed me?!” She immediately covered her lips with her hand; her cheeks flushed red.
Jiyong cupped the side of her face and tilted her head up to meet his gaze.
“I love you” He whispered, and upon hearing it, Dara’s eyes widen some more. She stared at him for a while before she looked away and blushed more.
“Why… why are you being so weird like this all of a sudden…?” She giggled, looking down; her hands gripped on the sheets beside her.
“Jiyong took something out from his pants’ pocket, something that he always took with him. He slipped out a familiar ribbon as his other hand reached for Dara’s hand.
“Trust me on this one Dara. Trust me one last time and I promise… I promise I won’t mess up anymore” He said as he tied the ribbon on her finger. Dara stared at it for a while before she looked up. Her eyes beamed in happiness.
“Does this mean, you’re going to marry me now? It’s so sudden Jiyong, I’m not prepared for this.” She asked in disbelief and Jiyong had to chuckle from her silliness.
“We’re still in high school Dara…” He started, which earned a pout from her.
“But I assure you that I will spend the rest the rest of my life with you Sandara Park and I hope that we have the same thing in mind.” Dara’s brows furrowed. Tears filled her eyes and even before it escaped her eyes, she reached for him; her arms wrapped around him and buried her face on his chest.
For a while they stayed lock in each other’s embrace, silence surrounded them until Dara broke it.
“Jiyong… you shouldn’t have kissed me.” She said as she looked up, her face flushed from embarrassment. He looked down at her and raised a brow.
“Why?” He asked. She smiled in return and bit her lips.
“I don’t know how long I have been sleeping; I don’t know the last time I brushed my teeth was.” Jiyong’s looked at her in surprise; his expression curled for a moment before he let out a smile and kissed her head.
“I don’t care; I didn’t brush my teeth either.” He wanted to laugh; Dara really knew how to ruin a moment. After a while she suddenly spoke again.
“Jiyong, I have to tell you something again.” He sighed and finally pulled out from their hug.
“What’s that?”
“You’re not my first kiss… well of course aside from my dad.” His eyes widen and his brows almost met at the thought of a four-old dara kissing another boy before him!
“Well who’s the guy?” He couldn’t help but for his voice to sound annoyed. Dara chuckled, her cheeks blushed again but this time, he didn’t like any of it. How dare her blush!
“Well… Dadoong kissed me.” Jiyong had to ask her again for the name and when he realized that Dara was talking about his cat, he almost collapsed on the floor and laughed out loud.
“He kissed me first! I mean he me…” Jiyong rolled his eyes, couldn’t believe he was hearing this things from her. With that, just to keep shut, he leaned down again to seal her lips with his. Dara wasn’t able to do anything but to let him kiss her.
“So, I’d have to be on an accident first before you realize that you love me? I should have put myself into coma ages ago!” She said right after they kissed. Jiyong looked at her in disbelief before glaring at her.
“Oh God Dara..! Just shut up okay and enjoy the kiss, you’re ruining everything.” He scolded her only to earn a laugh from her. Jiyong pouted, slowly his mood was turning sour and for not to let things to get worse as it was, her hands reached up to his face and pulled him down again for another kiss.
THE END
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HOPE YOU LIKED IT!
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