PART TWENTY TWO

“Thank you very much.”

“It was my pleasure, princess.”

The next morning when Dara was walking to school she bumped into a familiar person, who offered her a lift.

“Have you always been such a gentleman, or did you have to work at it?” Dara asked.

“Hmm...” Jaejoong put his finger on his chin to indicate that he was thinking deeply, “I read a lot... since that day Google is my best friend.”   

“Have you always been this cute, or did you have to work at it?” He asked back.

Dara giggled and smiled slightly, “I took lessons.”

He nodded with a serious expression, “I see... but I still think you owe me coffee.”

“Why?” Dara asked confused, he’s been saying it ever since she got into the car.

“My mother was right,” Jaejoong pounded and crossed his arm on his chest, “There’s no point in being a gentleman, all they do it take advantage of you when you offer a ride to school or work and then they don’t even want to have a cup of coffee with you.”

Dara couldn’t help but chuckle, couldn’t he make it more obvious?

“Alright.”

“Really?” Jaejoong asked in excitement, like a five year old child who has been given his favourite candy.

 Dara just smiled warmly at him and nodded her head.

“If I were to ask you out on a date, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?”

Dara looked at him wide eyed, “What?”

“What would you answer?” Jaejoong asked tilting his head to the side a bit to get a better view of her expression.

Dara just giggled and gathered her things before getting out of the car.

“Is that a yes or a no?” He asked and Dara just shook her head in amusement, “A maybe?”

Dara just chuckled and waved him goodbye.

“Hey! That’s not fair, you can’t leave without a proper answer!”

“Noona!” Dara heard a voice and the next thing she knew, she was picked up from the ground and spun around.  Even thought Dara couldn’t see the persons face because she was facing the other direction, she knew that voice too well.

“Hello there, panda,” Dara giggled as Seungri placed her back down and turned her body around, so that she could face him.

“When Hyung told us I didn’t believe him and said that he needs to see a doctor because he’s getting hallucinations,” Seungri said with a wide smile that was nearly ripping his face into two.

“But that would mean we would have to join him,” Deasung laughed and Seungri rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

“Unnie!” Before Dara could do anything else there were yet another set of arms pulling her in a different direction.

“She’s ours, get your own,” The arms turned out to be CL’s who was now looking at Seungri with a deadly stare which said: dare-to-touch-her-and-I-will-slit-your-throat.   

“Unnie we missed you,” Minzy came up and hugged her other arm.

Dara smiled at her and then looked around at everybody, I missed you too... all of you...”

“It’s good to have you back..” Daesung sniffed trying to stop the tears, causing everyone to laugh.

“Oh come on Dae, it’s a happy moment you should be happy and not cry,” Teayang told him.

“Yeah and you should be the happiest,” TOP said and threw his arm around Taeyang’s shoulders, to which Taeyang gave a confused expression, “Because with Dara back you actually have a chance in passing that final chemistry exam.”

“Hyung!”Everyone laughed at Taeyang’s annoyed face and Dara looked over at Jiyong who has been quiet ever since they arrived. He just stared blankly into space, but Dara followed his eyes and saw that he was looking at the direction of which she came from.

“Oh boy!” Daesung exclaimed checking his watch.

“What’s up, Hyung?” Seungri asked curiously.

“It’s nearly bell time and we still need to go and see Mr. Song about our final exams for this semester,” Daesung reminded them.

“Speaking like a complete nerd,” Seungri laughed.

“At least that nerd has better grades then you could ever dream of,” Daesung told him, which caused Seungri to go quiet and everyone else to laugh.  Everyone made their way inside of the school to talk to Mr. Song, but Jiyong grabbed a hold of Dara’s hand to stop her.

When they were all gone, she turned her gaze to him and smiled, “Hey.”

“Kim Jaejoong,” Jiyong said blankly.

Dara furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side not understanding what he meant.

“Why were you with him?” He asked.

“Oh, he offered me a lift to school, so...”

“How do you know him>” He asked her again.

“Yesterday when you went with Kiko he helped me get home,” She explained.

“Yesterday?” Jiyong asked annoyed and Dara nodded slowly, “You met him yesterday and he already gives you rides to school?”

“He’s just being nice.”

“He’s not nice,” Jiyong said angrily.

“Kwon Jiyong are you jealous?” Dara chuckled at the thought.

“Of him? No way!” Jiyong shook his head,” I just don’t want you to meet him again, okay?”

 “Why? So you can meet with Kiko and your other friends, but I can’t meet up with my friends?” Dara asked a bit annoyed now with his attitude.

“You can, but not with him,” He told her simply.

“Oh, so from now on I need your promotion to meet people?”  She raised her voice a bit.

“That’s not my point, Dara!”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Kim Jaejoong is Lee Minho’s cousin,” Jiyong told her with a sigh, he really hoped that his conversation wouldn’t go that far, but she was just too stubborn.

Dara gasped, but quickly regain herself and lied, “I know.”

Why did she lie? Maybe because she didn’t like the fact that Jiyong was ordering her. Yes, it’s true, she had no idea that Jaejoong is related to Lee Minho in anyway, but he seems harmless and besides you can’t judge a person based on their family.

“You know?” Jiyong asked her raising a brow.

“I do,” She nodded continuing with her lie.    

“Then you’re willingly breaking your promise?” He asked her.

“P-promise?”

“You promised me once that you’ll stay away from Minho and his gang, remember?”

Dara bit her lip, she did promise him that, but Jaejoong wasn’t like Minho, he was harmless, “Jaejoong isn’t like Minho.”

“Yes he is, Dara there is only one thing that guys like that care about,” He told her seriously.

“What is it that they care about then?” Dara asked back.

“How to get into your pants!” Jiyong shouted finally losing his patience with her, “And the fact that you’re rich and pretty is only a bonus.”

“Stop it Jiyong!”

“Well, that’s the truth,” He informed her, “That’s just the s nature, you can’t change them.”

“That’s disgusting, stop saying things like that.”

“Damn it Dara! Have you heard a word I said? Are you still planning to be friends with that ?!” He asked her trying his best to keep it down, so that the whole school wouldn’t hear them. Dara just looked down biting her lip not knowing what to say.

 “Tell me then, since he is so nice to you and you were so keen to ride to school with him, if he were to ask you to  sleep with him would you be willing to do that too?”

The question surprised both, Jiyong didn’t know why he said it, it was like someone had control over him for that brief second. Dara stared at him speechless, she wanted to cry, but there were no tears, maybe due to  the sudden shock? Did he really just said what she heard? Was he serious?

They stared at each other in silence, no one dared to move an inch, the bell rang, but they still just stood there in place.

“Dara...”

“GD!” They both heard and the next thing they knew was Kiko jumped and hugged Jiyong, “I’m glad I managed to catch you before school.”

“Noona, what are you doing here?” Jiyong asked, his angry and annoyed voice was long gone instead it was soft and gentle.

“I just came to remind you about the promise you made to Jr. He is very excited and asked me to go and see if you still remember.”

“Oh, yes,” Jiyong hit his forehead, “I’ll try to get it sorted before tomorrow.”   

Kiko smiled nodding and pecked him gently on the cheek, “Thank you.”

“Noona,” Jiyong blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh, you’re just too cute,” Kiko joked making him blush even more.

“Unnie...”

Both of the turned their attention to Dara who was just standing there quietly observing the whole scene. Jiyong gasped, he completely forgot about her.

“I want to give you something.”

“Me...?” Kiko asked and pointed at herself, to which Dara just nodded and walked to her, taking her hand and placing something in it before closing it.

“I think it’s better if you’ll have it,” Dara said with a soft smile.

Kiko looked at her confused and then opened her pal to see a small silver object. Jiyong’s eyes widen when he realized what it was that Dara gave her. It was that ring. The ring he gave her at the Kwon’s ball. The ring they shared together. He wanted to ask her why, but when he looked up she was already gone.

**

Dara was leaning on the barriers of the school rooftop, watching how most students made their way home, after a hard and long day of school, but Dara couldn’t go home. She just couldn’t face anyone after what Jiyong told her.

“Tell me then, since he is so nice to you and you were so keen to ride to school with him, if he were to ask you to  sleep with him would you be willing to do that too?”

Even remembering his harsh words made her heart crush into pieces. How could he say that to her? It’s like he didn’t know her. If he was jealous he could have told her not to see Jaejoong and not came up with some radicalise excuses and then ask her if she’d be willing to share a bed with Jaejoong. 

And then after seeing Kiko his mood turned 180 degrees and he was so nice again. He was mad that she was seeing Jaejoong, but having Kiko hug him in front of her was okay?

Dara looked down at her hand and saw the empty finger, on which she usually wore the ring from Jiyong. It felt strange and empty without it, because ever since he put it on her finger that night of the ball, she never took it off. So not being able to see it now was a bit odd.

Dara quickly shook her head and sniffed to stop the tears, it didn’t feel right. Not having the ring anymore, made her feel like Jiyong wasn’t with her anymore, she lost that feeling of security and strength that she had whenever she was with him. This was the main reason for her to fight back in the Philippines, because she knew that Jiyong would tell her not to give up and he promised her that he’ll always be by her side. So where was he now? Now that she needed him? She needed him to hug her and tell her that everything would be okay.  

Finally Dara couldn’t hold the tears anymore and let them run free, he shaky knees finally gave in as well, but before she could hit the ground, she felt someone’s arms holding her by the waist, hugging her from behind.

Jiyong?

Did he came to get her?

“I know, my brother is a bustard.”

“O-oppa...”  Dara stuttered choking on her own tears. She was turned around by the shoulders and Taeyang’s worried face welcomed her.

“Dara...” He eyed her carefully, her blood shot eyes and the amount of tears on her cheeks, made him want to go get Jiyong and show him what he did.

“Oppa... Ji... Jiyong...” Dara sobbed.

“I know... I’m sorry...” He told her wiping the tears away from her cheeks, “I’ll beat the crap out of him for you.”

Dara shook her head a no, the last thing she wanted is the two having a fight because of her. It wasn’t Taeyang’s fault, it was no one’s fault, it just turned out that their relationship wasn’t strong enough to fight with time they were away from each other.

“Then how about I’ll buy you something to eat?” Taeyang suggested, “It always helps me when Jiyong is being childish.”

Dara shook her head again, “It’s very nice of you Oppa, but I already promised to meet Jaejoong today.”

Taeyang sighed, this is what he was scared of, “Dara... Jaejoong is...”

But Dara quickly cut him off before he could finish his sentence, “Jaejoong is just a friend... I’m not going to sleep with him...”

“I never said you would...but even thought what Jiyong said to you was brutal, I still think you should be careful around Jaejoong...”

“I know,” Dara nodded and wiped more tears away.

“Listen, Jiyong can be a total sometimes, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you... he just doesn’t know how to express his feelings properly... and...”

“It’s okay, Oppa,” Dara said and tried her best to smile, “You don’t need to explain him, or fix the mess he’s done, just concentrate on yourself, okay?”

“Dara... it’s...”

“Oppa could you do something for me?’

“Yes, of course.”

**

Dara and Taeyang walked down the school grounds, Taeyang had his arm around her shoulders and Dara looked at her feet. She felt horrible with what she was about to do, but she knew that it was the right decision. Why would Jiyong be able to see Kiko and all his other friends and she wasn’t allowed to go for a cup of coffee with her friend?

Then suddenly Dara felt Taeyang stop and hold his breath, she looked up at his face which had a troubled expression and then followed his gaze. She saw a familiar car and a figure of a man leaning on it, he had his back facing them so he didn’t notice them coming .

“Oppa... please...” Dara pleated, tagging on his arm, so that  he wouldn’t  start a big fight with Jeajoong in front of the school.

Taeyang bit his tongue and looked down at her with a warm smile, ”Go.”

Dara looked at him confused, what did he just say? Did he just agree for her to go with Jaejoong?

“I said go,” Taeyang repeated himself with a small laugh. Dara’s smile grew wider as she nodded and run to Jeajoong, waving goodbye to him. Taeyang just stood there with a weak smile as he waved back to her. After all who was he to stop her from seeing people. All he could do for now is hope that Jeajoong won’t hurt her and that Jiyong will get himself together soon.

“Hey,” Dara said and smiled as she was about three steps away from him, “Did you wait long?”

Jaejoong didn’t respond to her question and just looked at her with a serious expression.

“What... what’s wrong?...” Dara asked noticing how quiet he was and it made her worried.

“Are you okay?” He asked simply, once again completely ignoring her question.  

Dara nodded and smiled, but her smiled immediately fell after Jeajoong spoke his next words, “...but you were crying...”

Dara gasped and bit her lip, was she really so easily read? Were her eyes really that red? Did he notice the dried up tear marks? She needed to make up something really quick, she didn’t want him to know the real reason behind her tears.

Dara laughed and rubbed the back of her head nervously, “Oh that? It’s nothing... there is just something stuck in my eye and I can’t get it out... I’ve been rubbing so my eyes are a bit red and they also water like crazy... but really it’s nothing to worry about... so why don’t we go get that coffee?”

“No,” Jaejoong said casually, making Dara stop and stare at him in shock. Did he just say ‘No’? This morning he’s has been annoying her with that coffee thing and now he said ‘No’?

“But... this morning... you said...” Dara stuttered from the shock making him chuckle.

“Hey I didn’t say I don’t want to go with you,” He pointed out, “I just changed my mind and I don’t want coffee anymore.”

Dara looked at him helplessly confused, “You’ve lost me.”

“Well, I figured that since you have something in your eye coffee won’t do any good for you,” He told her and she just looked down, he obviously didn’t believe her, “You know whenever I have something in my eye I always go for hot chocolate and ice cream, so what do you say?” 

Dara giggled and nodded, “Sure sounds good to me.”

Even though she was sad and upset with what Jiyong said to her, she couldn’t help but smile at Jaejoong’s strange way of trying to cheer her up. Whatever he did it worked because it made her smile. She was also glad that he didn’t question her lie, even though he knew she lied.

“But you’re aware that you’re the one paying, right?” She heard him say.

“And I thought you were suppose to be a gentleman.”

“I’m sorry but you don’t get paid for being a gentleman and my budget is pretty low,” He told her.

“Asking a girl out on a date and you don’t even have enough money, how typical,”  Dara said and walked past him tilting her head to the side.

“A date?” He blinked a few times taking in what she said, “So it’s a date?”

“You said you don’t have money so...” Before she got to finish her sentence he was right by her side with a smile.

“Forget what I said,” He said making her giggle,  “I’m paying for everything.”

**

Jiyong sighed for the ninth time in the period of fifteen minutes. The fact that Taeyang wasn’t back yet bothered him. Jiyong knew that his brother went to speak to Dara, but what was taking him so long?

Jiyong wanted to go and speak to her himself, but figured  that after what happened this morning he’ll better give her some time. He didn’t mean to leash out at her like this, but why couldn’t she understand that he just wanted to keep her safe. Maybe in fact Jeajoong has no bad intensions, but when he finds out that Dara really is too vulnerable he won’t keep himself calm for long and he’ll take advantage of her good heart one way or another.

And why did she just gave the ring to Kiko as if it meant nothing to her?

Was she really that pissed off with him?

Jiyong sighed once again and took out the ring out of his pocket, “What am I suppose to do with you, rabbit?’

He looked at the ring closely and then at the ring on his finger and smiled. This little thing was with her all this time. It was like a piece of him was with her as well and there’s no way that he’ll ever give that piece of him to anyone else.

Jiyong watched as Dara walked into the school building, he was taken back with her sudden action, why would she do such a thing? Did he hurt her so badly to just push away everything they’ve been through together?

When she was out of his sight he turned his attention to Kiko, who was looking at the ring with the happiest expression he ever seen. He gave out a heavy sigh and walked up to her, so that they could be face to face.

“Look GD!” Kiko giggled and tugged on his arm, showing him the ring on her finger, “We can finally share something!”

Jiyong just stared at the ring and bit his lip. How did this happen? This ring was suppose to belong to Dara and she just gave it away.

“It was very nice of her,” Kiko said with a wide smile and spun around, “You know, she’s not even that bad.”   

“Noona, give it to me.”

“Huh?” Kiko gave him a confused look not understanding what he meant.

“Noona, I want you to give it back to me,” He repeated his words once again for her to understand.

“But, you already have one of your own,” She said pointing at the finger that his ring was on.

Jiyong shook his head, “I want to give it back to Dara.”

“But, she doesn’t want it anymore,” Kiko reminded him, “You heard what she said.”

“Noona...please...”

“It would be a waste if no one were to wear it and I can promise you that I will wear it proudly every day,” Kiko continued to ramble on completely not listening to him. 

“Kiko!” Jiyong said seriously, which caused her to go silent, he never referred to her by first name, he always called her ‘Noona’ and that made her realized that he indeed was serious about giving it back to Dara.

Jiyong opened his hand in front of her and she placed the ring on his palm with a heavy sigh, “I’m telling you GD she won’t take it.”

Jiyong clenched the ring in his hand. Even if she won’t take it back, he won’t let anyone else have it. If Dara doesn’t wear it no one will. It’s too special.

Jiyong was snapped back to reality at the sound of the opening door, he turned his head around to see Taeyang taking his shoes off. Jiyong looked behind his brother but there was no one there, which just caused him to sigh, he hoped that Taeyang would bring Dara with him so that the two of them could talk and explain things.

“Don’t bother, Ji,” Taeyang told him,“She’s not here.”

Jiyong nodded sadly, “Did you walk her home?” 

“No,” Taeyang said shaking his head to which Jiyong gave him a curious look, “She went with Jeajoong.”

“What?!”

“She’s with Jaejoong, they went to have coffee together,” Taeyang told him. Suddenly Jiyong felt anger filling him up from head to toe and he gabbed Taeyang by the shoulders, pinning him against the wall.

“I understood the first time, but what I don’t understand is why did you let her go with him?” Jiyong shouted in his face.

“And what did you want me to do? Force her to came with me? Or maybe make her cry even more?” Taeyang shouted back, pushing Jiyong away.

“C-cry?” Jiyong asked did he hear correctly? Taeyang just cursed under his breath, he wasn’t meant to tell Jiyong that she was crying, she asked him not to.

“Oppa, could you do something for me?”

“Yes, of course.”

 “Tell him I don't ever want to see him again. Tell him he meant nothing to me. Tell him I never loved him. Tell him I won't miss him at all. But please don't tell him I said all this with tears in my eyes.”

“D-dara... what are you saying?”

“Please, Oppa... please... do it for me...”

How could he possibly tell Jiyong these things? They were all lies anyway. He knew that Dara made them up, because if they were true she wouldn’t be crying while saying them, she just wanted to keep a safe distance from Jiyong and Kiko, so that she wouldn’t be hurt, Taeyang was sure of it. She must think that Jiyong feels something for Kiko. How he wished he could tell her that she has it all wrong and in reality Jiyong loves her, but who is he to tell her about his brother’s feelings, if anyone it should be Jiyong who tells her how he feels about her.

“Did she cry?” Jiyong asked him, to which Taeyang just looked the other way, not wanting to answer. But, Jiyong didn’t need any words, he already knew the answer.

“She did... she cried because of me... right?”   

*******************************************************************************************************************************************

THERE YOU GO CHAPTER NUMERO 22 TOOK AGES I KNOW BUT I HOPE YOU STILL ENJOYED IT.

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK F THIS CHAPTER? I STILL CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHO TO BLAME FOR THIS WHOLE MESS, WHAT DO YOU THINK? i DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TO SAY A PART FROM THAT THIS STORY WILL BE 30 CHAPTERS LONG SO THAT MEANS THAT THERE'S ONLY 8 CHAPTERS LEFT TILL THE END. I'M GOING TO CRY! :'(

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