=FLASHBACK=

At the rooftop garden.

"Now, let's talk."

"I told you Youngbae, there's nothing to talk about." Dara said, lowering her gaze.

She was sitting on a bench and he was standing in front of her.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"Because there is nothing to talk about." She repeated, still not looking at him.

Her stubbornness is making Youngbae close his eyes and rub the back of his neck.

"Yes there is. I went here because --" He paused when he noticed Dara slowly lifting her gaze to him.

He took a deep breath. "About last night, I didn't plan to go out with Yuri. Believe me, I-"

"Why are you explaining to me?" Dara cuts him off and scoffed. "You don't need to explain to me anything. You're free to do whatever you want."

Youngbae was taken aback with what he heard. The reality of what she said pierced his heart again very deeply.
It was not what he was expecting to hear from her.
He wanted her to get angry with him and ask why he was with Yuri.
Just the thought of her getting jealous is enough for him to keep his hopes high.
If Dara expresses jealousy, it only means that the feelings she had for him still exist.
But from the way he sees it now, it's more of her pushing him away.
For a moment, his mind went blank as he sat beside her.

"Am I really free to do whatever I want, Dara?" He asked quietly without looking at her.

To Dara, what she said to Youngbae isn't really what she meant.
She said those because she doesn't want to expose what she truly feels.
Until now, she is still not comfortable seeing him with other women.
Last night's incident only brought back painful memories that she wanted to bury.
She doesn't want Youngbae to know that.
As long as she is still hurting from what he did to her, she believes that it would be best for them to just remain as best friends.

"In case you have forgotten, we are no longer together." She said looking away as she cleared .

Youngbae slowly turned to face her.

"You're right." He agreed, making Dara glance at him in an instant.

Her eyes showed a glint of surprise which isn't hard for him not to notice.

"Like what you said, we're no longer in a relationship. So you can do whatever you want and I'll do the same."

Dara tried to fight her weak side and didn't look away from his gaze. "I think that's fair enough."

Youngbae suddenly sneered and stood up.
She could tell that he was controlling whatever emotion he has stirring in him right now.
After a minute, he turned around and stared at Dara, expressionless.

"So what you are saying is that you don't mind if I go out with Yuri?"

Surprised with his question, Dara bit her lips and looked away.

"I-I don't. Why should I?" She replied, sounding unstable.

"Dara, why are you being like this?" Youngbae asked, exasperated.

"Being what?" She asked innocently.

"Stop pretending, Dara." He warned.

"Why are you acting like you don't care when it's obvious that you are affected with what you saw last night?"

"I am not." She strongly denied.

"Then why are you avoiding me and not answering my calls?"

Dara scoffed and caught his gaze.

"Because..."

"What?!"

"Youngbae,"

"What?!"

"I think we need some space." After saying those, Dara took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" Youngbae heard her loud and clear.

He understood what she meant, but he was wishing he was wrong.

"This is not helping us." She said quietly lowering her gaze.

"Helping us? What? What 'this' are you talking about?" Youngbae continued to act dumb.

Dara stood up.

"This!" She said to his face while pointing her finger to the ground.

"Instead of moving on and forgetting, we end up being like this."

Youngbae stared at her and shook his head.

"You know why, Dara?" He locked his eyes to hers. "Because you haven't completely forgiven me."

Dara’s mouth fell open.

She wanted to say something to defend herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

"Am I right, Dara? You still can't let go of the past."

Dara looked away. "I-it's not that. Don't-"

"Don't what?! It's the truth, isn't it?! After all these months, you still see me as the boyfriend who cheated on you. You still can't find it in your heart to forgive me."

"That’s not true!" She cried.

“In your eyes, I’m still the player Dong Youngbae.”

“Stop it, Youngbae!”

Tears started pouring out of her eyes, remembering the incident that led them to this situation.

Seeing her condition, Youngbae felt himself becoming weak.

He took a step closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mianhe Dara-ah," He gently said while soothing her back. "Why can't we just go back to the way we were before?"

Dara pulled away from him.

"We can't." She sobbed.

Youngbae froze. He didn't like what he just heard. The emotions that he was suppressing earlier started building up inside of him again.

"I love you, Dara." Youngbae voice was choking up. "Why can't you see that?"

"I don't wanna hear this." She said covering her ears and shaking her head.

Youngbae walked to her and laid his hands on her shoulders.

"NO! You listen to me." He demanded, looking straight into her eyes.

"You're still here." He said pointing his finger at his head then he points to his left chest. "And in here."  His voice was breaking.

Dara felt like she was going to breakdown and surrender to him but she still managed to snap back to her senses.

She jerked her body and distanced herself from him.

"It's not that easy." She sobbed. "Can't you understand that I'm still hurting, Youngbae?"

"Then tell me what I need to do, Dara?" He desperately asked. "Tell me what I can do to take the hurt away."

Her tears wouldn't stop falling and that pricks his heart.
He couldn't console her. He couldn't touch her.
The feeling of her pulling away from him is too painful to endure.

"J-just for awhile.." Dara managed to say in between her sobs. "L-let's give ourselves... some space."

Youngbae eyes widened. "Dara.."

"I need to breathe, Youngbae." She pleaded. "If we keep pressing. I'm afraid that I'm might lose my best friend too."

"Dara, no!" He said raising his voice. He was about to step forward but she took a step backward.

"Don't Youngbae, please." She held up her hand to stop him. "Please understand that I want to save whatever feelings that I still have for you."

"You still love me, I know." He said, holding back his tears. "But why? Why don't you come back to me?"

Dara wiped her tears and looked him in the eyes. "Because I don't know what I would do if I ever lose you again."

Hearing her reason, Youngbae turned his head away as a tear escaped from his eye.

"Dara, you know that I can't survive without you." He said, trying to fight back his tears from falling.

"But if that's what you want...”

=End of FLASHBACK=