"Omo!" Bom gasped, eyes wide and her hand was covering .

Dara forced a smile but that didn't stop her tears from falling down her cheeks.

"I was very confident that I wouldn't cry when I tell you this. Tsk! I'm such a weakling, aren't I?" She chuckled while wiping her tears.

Bom was staring at her speechless. She reached for her best friend and hugged her tightly.

"You're not a weakling, Dara-ah." She said softly, soothing her back. "You're the bravest woman I've ever met. And I'm proud of you."

Dara laughed at her comment. "Bravest woman?"

Bom released her and looked straight in her eyes. "I know it takes a lot of courage to face your fear."

"I can't believe you finally have the guts to say those to him." She added sounding amused.

"Fear? Courage? Guts?"

Bom rolled her eyes. "Dara, even if you don't say it, the girls and I know that not having Youngbae around is something you dread most."

"After all that has happened, we know that you still love him and that you're still having a hard time adjusting to the idea of you two just being friends."  

Dara kept quiet. Bom knows her best.
Among the girls, she is the one who can read her like a book.
Most of the time, she can tell what Dara is thinking even before she can deliver them.
When Bom met Youngbae the first time, she already predicted that Dara will fall for him soon.
She and Chaerin were constantly reminding Dara to be careful when she's with him.
Though Youngbae treated her with a lot of respect, his reputation of being a playboy still stands out.
Dara's friends feared that the two might develop into something more than friendship.

=Flashback=

"Where's Dara unnie?" Chaerin asked Bom while stirring her hot chocolate.

Bom checked the cafeteria's entrance, then she looked around.

"She said she's on her way."

Minutes later, Dara arrived.

"Annyeong!" She greeted with a big smile.

"What took you so long?" Chaerin asked when Dara sat beside her.

"Hi girls!" Youngbae suddenly popped up out of nowhere, putting his tray on their table.

Chaerin rolled her eyes. "I should have known."

"Hey playboy," Bom looked up with a glare. "Why don't you do us a favor and stop dragging our friend to your playboy games."

"Bom!" Dara warned.

Youngbae just flashed Bom a smile and sat beside her.

"Here," He placed a plate of cake in front of her and Chaerin too. "My treat." He said.

Bom propped her elbow on the table resting her chin on her hand.

"Bribery." She mumbled and rolled her eyes.

Chaerin giggled.

"Sorry for being late. I had to meet with the musical director of Youngbae’s club." Dara explained, slicing a portion of Youngbae's cake.

Bom looked at her questioningly then she turned to Youngbae, who was about to put a piece of cake in his mouth.  

"What does your musical director want from her?"

"The music club needs a substitute guitarist." Dara beat Youngbae in answering.

Bom raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "So what's that got to do with you?"

"I agreed to be the substitute." She quietly replied without looking at her.

"What?!!" Bom and Chaerin gasped at the same time.

Seeing their reactions, Youngbae couldn't help but wonder.

"Why?" He asked them. "What's wrong with her joining the club?"

"Uh playboy," Bom said fluttering her eyelashes while Chaerin burst out laughing. "Have you heard her play the guitar?"

He slowly nodded his head. "Yes, I think she's good."

Chaerin snorted making Dara flash a glare at her.

"Let me guess." Bom said looking at Dara then to Youngbae. "You heard her play just an intro of a song, right?"

He nodded his head and sipped his juice.

Bom grinned and stared intently at him.

"Do you know that she can only play that particular intro and nothing else?" She asked.

Youngbae's eyes widened as he turned to face Dara who's sitting across him.

Her face was as red as a tomato. He noticed she kept nudging Chaerin to stop laughing.

Sensing her embarrassment, he turned to Bom and smiled.

"All the more reason for her to join the club. She can improve her guitar skills there. And I'll be glad to help her with that."

Dara bit her lips and lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry to drop the bomb, girl." Bom snorted, looking at her. "I just don't understand what's gotten into you."

She glanced at the person beside her. "And you, I know you like being with our friend here, but must you bring her everywhere you go?"

Dara suddenly stood up, without saying a word she walks away from the table.
Youngbae was about to follow but Bom stopped him.

"Let me." She stood up and followed where her friend was going.

Chaerin finished her hot chocolate and gathered her things.

"Oppa, thanks for the treat. Oh and by the way, please tell Seungri to stop bothering me, I'm already seeing someone."


Dara was shoving her books inside her locker when Bom appeared beside her.

"Sorry about that." She apologized.

"No, Bom." Dara replied not looking at her. "You're right. I mean, what was I thinking joining the music club? I'm not even good in playing the guitar."

Her friend sighed. "Dara, you got talent."

"Pshhhh..."

Bom rolled her eyes. "Tell me, did you really join the music club because you want to be a guitarist?"

"Of course!" Dara quickly answered.

"I don't think that's the reason." Chaerin chimed in. She went to stand beside Bom.

Dara rolled her eyes and she closed the locker door.

"Oh yeah? What is the reason then?" She asked innocently, crossing her hands over her chest.

"Dong.Young.Bae." Bom said word per word.

She scoffed. "You think it's because of him?"

"Oh c'mon Dara," Bom argued. "You gave up on your guitar lessons since middle school. We even convinced you to continue but you didn't want to. What made you decide to play the guitar again?""

"T-t-that was before," Dara stuttered. "I-I-I want to do something productive in my spare time. Joining the music club isn't such a bad idea."

"Yeah right." Bom sneered. "Two years ago you said you'll join the art club because Jiyong convinced you. Months later you quit. Why? What was the reason again?" She turned to Chaerin then back to her. "Oh yeah, you started hanging out with Dong.Young.Bae."

"W-well, I changed my mind."

"Unnie, it's okay." Chaerin grinned. "It's not like we don't support you. It's just that you're doing this because of Youngbae oppa, we think that's a little too much."

Dara sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's not what you think?"

"Dara-ah, Youngbae is the first guy you become close with." Bom said calmly. "Though you've been hanging out with him for two years now, we still can't help but feel uneasy. It's a relief that you two are nothing more than just friend or else, I swear, I'll die of a heart attack."

"We've been noticing that you're depending too much on him, vice-versa. We just don't want you to get hurt, unnie." Chaerin added. "He's a nice guy but he is still the famous playboy of this university.
 
Dara laughed in disbelief.

"Yah! From the way you two are speaking it's like Youngbae and I are in some kind of..... a relationship." She said shaking her head. "Aigoo, we're just friends."

"For now," Chaerin blurted, gaining a nudge from Bom.

"What was that?" Dara asked confused.

The two girls exchanged glances and laughed. They turned around and walked away leaving Dara wondering.

"Yah!"

=End of Flashback=


Bom held her friend's hands and squeezed them gently.

"If you ask me, I think you made the right decision." She said. "Give yourself some time."

A tear rolled down Dara's cheek.

Bom wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's only temporary. I'm sure you and Youngbae will get through this." She assured her.

Dara bit her lips and turned to her friend. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so."

**********

 Seungri's glass almost slipped from his hand.

"Hyung, what's going to happen now?" He worriedly asked.

Youngbae buried his face in his hands. "I don't know, please don't ask me."

"I need to call Daesung hyung." Seungri said picking up his cellphone from the table.

After he finished talking on the phone, he stood up and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"C'mon, I'll drive you home so you can change." He said. "Daesung will meet us at your office later."

Youngbae looked up at him confused. "What about your date later?"

"I'll cancel. Let's go."

**********

"What the -!"

"Annyeonghaseyo, Sajangnim."

Jiyong just stepped out of the elevator.
He was surprised when an office staff ran in front of him followed by another person running from the opposite direction.

"Annyeonghaseyo, Sajangnim."

Jiyong's eyebrows drew together and his forehead creased as he looked around the office.

The entire staff has gone into a complete frenzy.
He can hear chattering voices, people talking from one cubicle to another, and the phones were ringing non-stop.

"Sajangnim!" His secretary ran towards him with a cellphone in one hand and a newspaper on the other.

"Yoojin-shhi, what in the world is going on here??!!!"

"S-s-sajangnim, t-the news." She said stuttering.

"What news?" He asked in confusion.

"A-about H-h-hyuna-sshi."

Jiyong took a deep breath. "Stop stuttering and get straight to the point."

Seeing his boss' state, Yoojin couldn’t help but feel scared and nervous.

Shaking, she handed the newspaper to him.

"CEO of GD-Fam Entertainment, Kwon Jiyong, and a member of Korean girl group 4 Minute, Kim Hyuna, are having an affair." The newspaper headline said, in bold letters.

Jiyong's eyes widened with fury.

"I-i-it's all in the news today, Sajangnim. The papers said that you asked Hyuna-sshi to join GD Fam Entertainment and she declined it. They said you offered her a large sum of money. Other newspapers said that you are having an affair with her behind Lee Chaerin-sshi's back."

"What??!!!" Jiyong's voice thundered. "This is %! absurd!!"

Hearing him swearing continuously, all the people in the office froze.

"And who is the source of this *&^%$% false information?"

"From what we have investigated, it came from Hyuna-sshi's side." Yoojin answered.

Jiyong could feel his blood pressure shooting up. "That B*&^%$%!"

One of his office staff suddenly appeared beside him.

"S-s-sajangnim, our website has crashed." He nervously informed him.

"Sajangnim, SBS news is outside asking for you." Another one called out.

"KBS has just arrived, Sajangnim."

"Blah~ blah-blah~" And the others went on.

"SHHHHHHUT UPPPPPP!!!" Jiyong shouted.

Silence filled the whole floor.

"Ring~ ring~"

Jiyong stomped his way towards the nearest desk and picked up the receiver.

"Yoboseyo. This Kim Jun Hyun of WBS Newspaper, can I please get info about the Kwon Jiyong and Hyuna controversy?"

Jiyong's nostrils flared up and the whole staff were staring at him with terrified expression on their faces.

"Yoboseyo?" The reported called. "Are you one of the staff there in GD Fam Entertainment? Maybe you can give me just a little bit of the inside scoop?"

"Ye." Jiyong replied gritting his teeth. "Oh I got some hot news for you. I heard that one of Star Melody Entertainment's boy group had disbanded." With that, he slammed the receiver down.

He turned around facing everyone.

"All of you, pull all telephone plugs in this building." He commanded. "I don't want to hear a single phone ringing, is that clear?!"

"Ye!" They all scrambled to their feet and did what they were told.

"And Yoojin-sshi," He turned to his secretary.

"Ye."

"Call my lawyers; I want them in my office in thirty minutes."

"All of them, Sajangnim?"

“ALL!” He roared.

"Ring~ ring~"

Jiyong frowned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"What?!" He shouted.

"Yah!" He heard a familiar voice on the other line.

"Aboji?!"
 
**********

When Bom left Dara's apartment, Dara went to her room and grabbed her cellphone.

She pressed a number and went to sit on the mini sofa near her bedroom window.

"Yoboseyo?"

"Seunghyun-ah, kamsahamnida."