"Omo!" Bom exclaimed, covering . "I can't believe that woman!"

"She's a witch!" Minji said angrily.

The three girls and Jiyong met up with Daesung and Seungri the next day for lunch.
Seungri told them about what Angela had confessed to them.

"Man, is that how strong her love is for Youngbae?" Jiyong said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Oppa, that's not what you call love." Chaerin corrected her boyfriend. "That's what you call a selfish act."

"More like an obsession." Bom said rolling her eyes.

"I agree." Minji nodded.

"I know you're all shocked as we were." Daesung said. "Imagine how Youngbae felt when he found out." He said hoping to get some sympathy from them.

"Poor Youngbae oppa," Minji said sadly. "He was taken advantage by that - that - " Then she looked at Bom who is giving her a warning look.” - that witch. "

Minji was about to say something more than "witch", but knowing Bom, she will definitely be scolded if she curses.

Jiyong snorted watching Minji restrained herself.
But when he saw Bom giving him a sharp look, he cleared his throat and straightened himself on his chair.

"But don't forget," Bom said crossing her arms. "It takes two to tango. And Youngbae still lied to Dara."

Chaerin who is sitting beside her nudged her.

"What?" Bom innocently asked. "I'm just stating the facts here."

Minji and Chaerin rolled their eyes.

"Youngbae hyung is pretty messed up right now." Seungri said with concern.

"Who wouldn't be?" Jiyong said. "It was a big revelation."

"What do we do now?" Minji said, slouching in her chair.

Daesung made an eye contact with Seungri like giving him a signal to say something.

"All Youngbae wants is to talk to Dara nuna." Seungri managed to say.

When the girls and Jiyong heard him, they exchanged glances.

"We can't guarantee you anything." Chaerin said looking at the two. "But we will try to convince her to talk to Youngbae oppa."

She looked at her friends waiting for confirmation.

Bom nodded.

"We'll try to talk to her." Bom said.

The two thank them.





That night. . .

"What brings you here?" Dara said putting a plate of fruits on the table.

She sat on the living floor beside Bom while Chaerin and Minji sat on the couch across them.

Chaerin and Minji nudged each other.

"You ask her." Chaerin mouthed to Minji.

"Why me? YOU ask her." Minji mouthed back.

Dara stopped slicing the fruits and looked up.
Sensing that the two girls had something to say, she put down the knife and apple.

She crossed her arms on her chest. "Okay spit it!"

Chaerin and Minji turned to Bom who is sitting beside Dara.
Bom shrugged her shoulders, taking a sliced apple on Dara's plate.
The two girls glared at her.

"We were just wondering if you have plans on talking to Youngbae oppa." Minji managed to ask.

Dara's eyes widened at hers question.

"Wae?" She asked raising her eyebrow.

"Oh nothing, really." Chaerin answered for Minji instead, giving out a nervous laugh. "We're just curious."

Dara studied Chaerin and Minji's faces.

"Obviously, there's something you girls aren't telling me." She said glaring at the two then turning to Bom.
"Now do I have to force you to tell me or are you gonna tell me now."

The girls gulped and exchange glances.

"We met up with Daesung and Seungri earlier." Bom spoke. "Youngbae is desperate to talk to you."

Dara remained silent.

"C'mon Dara unnie, don't you think it's about time?" Minji told her friend. "It's already a week since the incident."

"She's right, unnie." Chaerin agreed. "How can you move on if you keep avoiding him?"

Dara listened to what her friends were saying.


DARA POV
They have a point. Tomorrow is exactly a week after the club incident. Am I ready to face Youngbae? I don't know. What should I tell him? I'm so scared to face him. What if I give in? What if I can't say the things that I want to say? There are so many questions. I wouldn't know the answer if I don't talk to him. Maybe they're right. It's time to face him.

It's time for us to talk.

End of DARA POV


"Maybe you're right." Dara replied quietly. She was staring down at the fruits on her plate. "It's about time we talk."

Right after Dara's friends left, she went to her room and sat on her bed.
She's holding her cellphone and hesitating if she's going to call Youngbae or not.
She let out a big heavy sigh.
She pressed number one on her cellphone. It dialed Youngbae's number.

"Dara-ah!" Youngbae answered on the first ring. "Thank you that you called."

Dara can hear the happiness in Youngbae's voice.

"Youngbae-ah," Dara spoke. "Are you free tomorrow?"


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

The next day. . .


YOUNGBAE POV

I'm sitting in the sand at the beach watching the waves roll. I could feel the cool breeze that is coming from the sea touching my face.
No wonder Dara and I love it here. Everything around the beach has calming effect.
I checked my watched. I've been sitting here waiting for thirty minutes already. I wonder if she is going to show up.

"Youngbae." I heard a soft voice called me.

I turned and saw her walking towards me. I slowly stood up, dusting the sand off my pants.
I faced her and smiled.

"Hi Dara." I greeted.

I was hesitating if I should embrace her like I always do when we see each other.

Dara smiled back.

"Hi Youngbae. Sorry I'm late."

"No, it's okay. I know you're busy." I said still smiling.
A moment of awkward silence.

Dara faced the sea. The image of her with her hair flowing in the breeze, reminds me of the first time my heart beat for her.


=Flashback=


Three Years ago...

"Aggghhh!!!" Dara screamed as she slammed her hand on her book.

"Whoa!" I turned to her.

We were both studying in the living room of Dara's apartment.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked my best friend.

Dara frowned and sighed.
"We've been studying for days and I'm so tired." She whined. "Nothing is going inside my head now. Information overload."

I laughed seeing how annoyed she was.
An idea just crossed my mind.
I got up from the floor and pulled her up.

"Wae?" She asked standing up.

"I think you're right. We need a break." I winked at her.
"Go get your jacket and bring some extra clothes too." I told her.

"Why? Where are we going?" She asked curiously.

"To the beach!" I said with enthusiasm.

She smiled widely. "That's a great idea."


At the beach, I laughed on how Dara quickly got off the car and ran to the shore leaving me behind.
'She really likes this place.’ I thought.

"Youngbae come here quick!" She called waving at me.
I chuckled as I walked towards her.

"See how clean the water is." Dara said while she dipped her foot in.
She looked up in the sky, inhaled, and closed her eyes. "I miss this place. We should come here more often."
She pulled me towards the water.

As I was enjoying the cool, but refreshing water touching my feet, Dara suddenly splashed water all over me.
I froze and couldn't move.
I heard her giggle.

'So she wants to play.' I thought.
I looked at her with a playful grin. "I'm gonna get you for this."

She shrieked when she saw me moving towards her.

"Oh no you don't!" She ran back to the shore and I followed.

She was laughing so hard that she couldn't run fast.
I caught her by the waist while she continued screaming and laughing.

"Ahhhh..." She screamed. "Let go!"

"No way! You're paying for what you've done." I protested as I picked her up bridal style.

It was the first time I carried her that way. It felt weird.
I often give her piggy back rides but never did I carry her like this.

"Yah! Put me down!" She demanded while giggling.

I stared at her and surprisingly she stopped laughing.

At the background I could hear the gentle splash of wave against the shore.
It's like time stopped.
A sudden gust of wind blows her long hair covering part of her face.
She shook her head to toss the hair from her face.
For the first time in years that we were together, I saw how truly beautiful she was.
Not that I don't find her attractive.
She is pretty and a lot of guys wanted to date her, I never questioned that.
This was the first time I felt different.
I felt my heart beating faster when she stared into my eyes.

"Uhmmm.. Youngbae...” She said waving her hand on my face.

"H-huh?" I said snapping back to my senses.

"You can put me down now." She said smiling.

"Oh! Yeah...” I replied with an awkward laugh. I slowly put her down.

= End of Flashback =


'She is definitely the most beautiful woman in the world to me.' I thought.

I turned to face the sea as well.
The silence was killing me, so I took a deep breath.
"Thank you for today." I spoke.

"You don't have to thank me." She said, not looking at me.
"Actually, I should apologize because it's just now that I agreed to talk to you."
She ran her fingers through her hair.
"I should have faced you before, but I wasn't ready yet." She explained.

"I understand." I simply replied.

She turned to me. "Youngbae-ah, I'm willing to listen now to whatever you want to say."

I looked at her and I could still see the hurt and sadness in her eyes.

"Dara, I know whatever I say won't change the fact that I hurt you." I started.  "But still I want to sincerely apologize." I said looking into her eyes.
"There are so many things I want to say sorry for. I'm sorry for hurting you, for lying to you and most especially for breaking your trust in me."
I paused for a second when I saw her eyes starting to form tears. I know she's bound to cry any moment, but I have to say what I need to say.

"For all the things that happened to me and Angela, I just want you to know. I'm sorry for being weak."

This time a tear fell from her eyes. She looked away.

Seeing her at this state, my heart couldn't take it.
It's like I'm being stabbed on the chest.
I can feel a big lump in my throat.

"But Dara, I hope you would still believe me when I say, I love you and will always love you."

She looked back at me. I can tell that she's trying to suppress herself from crying.
"For the past few days I've been thinking of what happened to us. We became the best of friends in our first year in college. We became a couple in our third year. For five years, we shared a lot. It's such a waste to even let it go." She paused wiping a tear that rolled from her eye.
"I can't deny that through those years, you always treated me well. And I'm thankful for that."

Hearing her say those to me, I felt a pinch in my heart.
Tears welled up in my eyes. How could I hurt her like this?

"It's hard for me to face you as your girlfriend or lover, so now; I want you to understand that I'm facing you now as your best friend." She said as her tears started flowing.
"In my heart there's a wound that hasn't healed. And that's what your Dara-girlfriend would carry for a long time."

I swallowed hard as I continued listening to her.

"I don't want that to be the reason for us ending what we've started five years ago." She tried to smile as she speaks. "So I hope you'll understand my decision."

Tears are now falling down my face.
Dara took a deep breath.
"I've decided not to be your girlfriend anymore but to continue being your best friend."

When I heard those words, I didn't know what to say, but my body has a mind of its own.
My body was shaking and I can feel my heart exploding.
It was hard for me to breathe. The tears won't stop flowing and I was sobbing so hard.
For the first time in my life, I experienced the pain of losing someone I love so much, just because of my stupidity.
Even though I should be grateful that she still wants to keep me as her best friend, the thought that I'm no longer the only man in her life is something that I can't imagine.

"I'm sorry, Youngbae." Dara said quietly, covering her face with her hands.
"This is all I can think of." She sobbed. "Call me selfish, but I don't know --"

"Ssshhh...” I cut her off.

I reached for her hands and removed them gently from her face.
She didn't want to meet my gaze.
I cupped her face so that she can look straight into my eyes.

"You don't have to apologize." I said softly to her. "You don't even have to explain anything. I respect your decision."

"Oh Youngbae." She suddenly threw herself to me.
She hid her face against my chest and I felt her warm tears as they fell.
I wrapped my arms around her then I gently her hair as I cried with her.

"Thank you for everything Youngbae." She sobbed, her face still buried in my chest.

"No, thank you Dara." I hugged her tightly not wanting to let go. "I'm sorry for hurting you."

I can feel her shoulders trembling.

"Goodbye my baby Dara." I whispered.

END OF YOUNGBAE POV

*******

DARA POV

Driving back, I wiped my tears on my face. I already ended my relationship with Youngbae as her girlfriend, but why is my heart more painful than ever. I didn't even tell him that I still love him. I'm scared to say those words for it will be useless. I already decided to be his best friend. Meaning, I'm just a best friend. I won't be there by his side all the time and he is free to see anyone he likes. Like Angela. I can't react on that. Part of me wants to go back and take back what I've said. But I know that if I did, I might regret everything. My heart is not yet healed from what he has done. If I continued my relationship with him, I'll just resent him and will always doubt his every move. I don't know if what I did was right but I know it's better than hating him. My heart is still in pain. I keep looking at my rear-view mirror and wondering what will happen if I turn the car around and go back to him. Will I feel better? No! Park Dara, move on. I remembered clearly what he told me back there "Goodbye my baby Dara". It keeps repeating in my head. Tears are still coming out of my eyes. When will this hurt go away?

Without even realizing it, I already reached our house, the Park Mansion. I don't want to enter the gate yet so I parked at the side. I rested my head on the steering wheel.

"Youngbae, I'm so sorry." I whispered. “I still love you very much."