Jiyong came out of the shower with a towel around his waist and another to wipe his wet hair. He walked to his locker and took out his clothes and started wearing them.

“Jiyong, we’re going to eat together after this. You coming?” invited one of his soccer teammates.

“No,” he answered, almost immediately.

“Why not?” Seunghyun, another one of his teammates, asked suddenly appearing in front of him.

Jiyong shrugged. “I just don’t feel like it, hyung.”

“If you say so,” he said with disappointment in his voice. “Well, we better get going now. Bye!”

Jiyong nodded in reply. He left just minutes after the others did. He looked over at his watch and realized it was already 7:45 in the evening. He decided to stop at the convenience store before heading home to buy food for his dinner that night and snacks enough to last for about a week. He opened his wallet only to discover that there wasn’t enough money left to pay for everything except his dinner for that night and his breakfast for the following morning. He mentally told himself that he’ll be back tomorrow to buy the rest.

It wasn’t long until he caught sight of his apartment building. There was a truck parked in front of the entrance. He didn’t think much of it and continued walking. He stopped in his tracks when he saw an awfully familiar figure hurry inside the building as the truck drove away. Very familiar, indeed.

He shook his head.

 No. I’m just mistaken. I must be.

Jiyong went inside the building and walked straight to the elevator. He walked inside and pressed 3^rd. Just as the door was about to close, a voice called.

“Please wait!”

As a reflex, Jiyong pressed the open button and the door slowly opened. He instantly regretted it as soon as he saw who the person was. The person’s eyes widen at the sight of him.

“Park?”

**

Dara walked in the cafeteria with Joohyun and Bom. They sat in the table close to the window with Dara and Joohyun holding their lunch box while Bom holding her tray of food.

“Did you find a new place yet, Dara?”Joohyun asked as soon as they sat down.

“Yeah, I already moved in yesterday.” She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The two gasped. “ALREADY?! SINCE WHEN? HOW COME YOU DIDN’T TELL US?”

“Huh? I didn’t?” She looked confused. “Didn’t I tell you that it was the reason I was in a hurry to leave yesterday?”

Joohyun shook her head. “If you did, we would have helped you.”

“Oh,” she said softly. “I thought I did. I had a lot of things on my mind so I forgot. Sorry.”

“It’s okay! But still the thought of my Darong living alone is just too sad!!” Bom exclaimed.

Dara waved her hand dismissively. “That’s not true. It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve been living alone so I don’t feel sad.”

 “What do you think of it?” Joohyun asked, referring to Dara’s new apartment, after taking a bite from her food.

“I like it! It’s just a walking-distance away from school which means that I don’t have to ride the bus to school which also means that I’ll be able to save more money!” She giggled like a little kid.

As much as Joohyun and Bom enjoyed seeing their best friend happy like this, they couldn’t help but feel bothered.

“Are you going to be fine? Walking that much?” Joohyun asked, worry filling her tone.

“Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me!” she said, giving them a reassuring smile and thumbs up.

The two looked at each other then nodded at Dara.

“But Darong~ don’t hesitate to give us a beep whenever you’re feeling lonely, okay?”

“Okay,” Dara nodded, wearing a big smile on her face.

“Do you want my pudding, Dara?”

Dara’s brown eyes twinkled with joy.

“When did Dara ever refuse food?” Bom laughed. “Well, you can have my cake too!”

Just then, Jiyong, Seungri and Daesung entered the cafeteria and sat on a table far away from them.  Dara’s eyes diverted to Jiyong.

‘It’s Jiyong,’ Dara thought to herself.‘I didn’t expect that he lives in that apartment building too, and to think that our apartments are just next to each other. He wasn’t too happy about it, though. I wonder… is he still mad at me because I bumped into him yesterday?’ She sighed.

“I went to the CD store again yesterday and she wasn’t there! Whhyyyy?!” Seungri moaned, much to Jiyong and Daesung’s annoyance.

But nonetheless, Daesung tried comforting his friend, “Maybe it was her day-off.”

Jiyong smirked when an idea of teasing him came to mind. He wanted to avenge himself because Seungri ruined his morning with all his whining.

One statement wouldn’t hurt. Just one.

“It’s probably because she knew you will be there again and she didn’t want to see you,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Seungri gave him an is-that-true-look then burst out loud, “UWAAAH!”

Apparently, it did hurt. In the ears. Daesung immediately covered his ears and Jiyong’s mouth twitched in anger, his fist clenched.

“UWAAAH! NO WAAAAY!” He continued, even louder.

PAAAAAK!

“SHUT UP, YOU MORON!! IT WAS A JOKE! CAN’T YOU EVEN TELL?!”

 “It was?” Seungri asked stupidly, massaging the part of his head where he was hit by Jiyong. “But how you said it seems so real!”

ing annoying. I will definitely not tell this idiot about Park moving in right beside my apartment.

Just then, the trio noticed that all eyes in the room were on them. Jiyong’s eyes narrowed.

“What the are you all looking at? Mind your own business!” He growled, making all of them look elsewhere, except for one person.

Dara.

Jiyong’s eyes met her’s. Her lips instantly curved into a small smile. He glared at her then stood up from his seat. Daesung and Seungri stared curiously at him.

“I’m going back to the room,” he said through gritted teeth. The two looked at his tray to see his untouched food. They wanted to ask why but he was already far from them. They looked at each other and shrugged. Jiyong was walking in the hallway, massaging his temples like he's having a headache. He wasn’t aware that someone was behind him.

“Jiyong?” Dara called as she followed him turn to the corner in the short hallway. He stopped. She did too.

He looked over his shoulder and showed her an annoyed expression on his face. “What do you want?”

“Are you still mad?” She asked softly.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She ignored the impatient tone in his voice. “You see, I was thinking you were still mad about yesterday that I bumped into you and I was thinking that it was the reason you seemed cold to me last night. I just want to apologize again for it.”

“Don’t make me laugh. It’s true that I was cold to you but that doesn’t have anything to do with a stupid reason like that.”

She blinked at him. “Then, what is it?”

“Do you really want to know?” He smirked. Dara nodded.

“It’s because everything you do and everything you say is annoying. Your attitude makes me sick. I don’t want to be involved with the likes of you.