Just as Dara was about to answer her phone, it stopped ringing. She decided to call Jiyong back later.
Donghae rose from his seat, straightening his shirt. "I should probably go. You should get some rest. You still have a long day tomorrow."
Dara looked up at him and thanked him for his thoughtfulness, placing the phone back on the table. Her exhaustion must have been visible on her face. Too much has happened that day, after all. She felt extremely exhaustd. And she wasn't even going to deny it.
She stood up and led Donghae to the door.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said as Dara swung the door open.
"Tomorrow?"
"In your school." A hopeful smile crept onto his face. "If it's okay."
Dara really didn't know what to say so she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay."
Donghae's smile grew bigger. "I'll see you then. Rest well. Oh and," he said turning serious, "I'm sorry for coming uninvited. And umm.. Thank you for listening. Really."
Dara didn't know what to say so she just smiled in understanding. With that, Donghae left. Dara closed the door gently behind her. She stayed by the door with many thoughts swirling around inside her head that made her feel dizzy. Dara didn't know why she cried when she did. It was probably the feelings she's kept to herself had made its way out, she assumed. She didn't know how she felt about Donghae and what to make out of his presence. But what she did know was that she wasn't angry at him. She never was. Somehow she knew that he left for a reason and that someday he would be back and explain everything to her. She knew him well enough to predict that. Surprisingly enough, it did happen. But what Dara didn't think about was what would happen afterwards.
She stayed there, as if she's been frozen on the spot. That is,until she heard her phone beep loudly.
"Jiyong!" She gasped and rushed to get her phone.
Her phone lit up for her to see she's received a message from Jiyong. She clicked open and it said:
J: Home?
Dara grinned. It was so Jiyong to send something so short, she mentally told herself. She keyed in her reply that said, I'm home. How are you there? Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting? o.O don't worry about me and listen well to Seunghyun sunbaenim!!! Kkk~ ^_^v
A few seconds later, her phone beeped. Twice. Both were from Jiyong. She read the first message.
J: Why do you still have a lot energy...?
She chuckled as she could actually hear him complaining. Then she clicked the second message open.
J: Go to sleep, silly girl.
D: Yes, sir! ^^;;; I will see you tomorrow, right? Kkk~ let's go to school together! (^0^)/
When she didn't receive a reply from him minutes later, she sent him another text.
D: Take care later!! ^.^
J: Aish!! I will. Go to sleep, woman!!!!
D: Okay, okay!!! In 3... 2... Good night, Jyong!! And 1..... (-.-)Zzz
She wasn't expecting to receive a reply from him anymore so it surprised her when she did. A huge smile crept onto her face. Although the message was extremely short, she felt a fluttery sensation in her stomach when she read it.
J: Sweet dreams, Darong..
After taking a quick shower and changing into her pajamas, Dara slipped into bed. It amazed her how she momentarily forgets her worries and feels absolutely energized as if she's done nothing the whole day whenever she talks to Jiyong. It was, somehow, a familiar yet a new feeling to her.
An image of Donghae and Jiyong popped into her mind, reminding her of the conversation that occurred between the two earlier that day. A sad feeling came unto her. Both of them means a lot to her but they didn't seem to have a good relationship. As much as she wanted to know the reason, she didn't know how to bring it up to either of them without seeming rude or nosy. She assumed she would find out soon enough and so she shoved the thoughts out of her mind. At least, tried to. Thanks to Dara's exhaustion, she fell asleep almost instantly.
Dara opened her eyes to realize it was already morning. She got up and did her morning routine which consisted of waking up, taking a bath and changing into her uniform, but since it was the Sports Week, instead of the school uniform, she put on her blue shirt and jeans, and then she had a quick breakfast. Afterwards, she grabbed her bag and made her way to the door. Before pulling the door open, she took a deep breath. Another day has come, she thought to herself.
She opened the door. To her surprise, Jiyong, in his red shirt and jeans, was standing behind it. The sight of him brought a smile across her face.
"Good morning, Ji!"
"Morning," he greeted lazily. "Let's go."
Dara nodded, closing and locking the door before dropping the key into her bag.
Facing him, she said, "You sure are early."
"Woke up early," he said simply.
Dara noticed his bothered expression, but when she asked him about it, he denied it, quickly changing the subject. Obvious that Jiyong didn't want to talk about it, Dara decided to ask about yesterday's meeting instead as they made their way to school, walking side by side. Jiyong made sure to walk in Dara's pace, which was slow, just so she won't fall behind. And Dara noticed it and she made a mental note to thank him later.
Jiyong informed Dara that the practice (soccer) for the second match against Kwang Soo High will officially start the week after the Sports Festival.
She squealed in excitement. "I can't wait for the next match! I know you guys will win again!"
Finally, his expression softened. He smiled down at her, shaking his head. "You really are," he said, "something else."
She tilted her head questionably at him. "Why do you say that?"
He eyed her for a moment then looked away, as if deciding against something. "Nothing, forget it."
"Oh, come on," Dara whined, shaking his arm like a brat who didn't get what she wanted. "Tell me!"
Jiyong didn't pull his arm away. Instead, he just rolled his eyes and said, "No."
"But-"
"Well, well. Aren't you two being a little too close in this fine early morning?"
It was Daesung, standing in front of the gate of the school with a smirk on his face and his arms folded across his chest.
Jiyong, who just realized that they were indeed close, became conscious and blushed a little. Dara, who was oblivious, let Jiyong's arm go and waved cheerfully at Daesung.
"Good morning, Daesung!"
"Good morning, Dara," he greeted back, then at Jiyong, "A good morning to you, indeed."
Jiyong glared at him in which Daesung responded with a teasing grin.
"Are you ready for your swimming competition today?" Dara asked Daesung as they started to walk inside, with her in the middle. There were already quite a lot of people, she noticed.
"I guess we'll find out later if I am," Daesung chuckled.
Moments later, they spotted Seungri talking to one of their classmates in front of a stall. When he finally noticed them, Seungri said something to him before heading to them.
"Hey, guys! Good morning!" Seungri greeted enthusiastically.
"Good morning," Dara greeted back just as enthusiastic. "Have you seen Joohyun and Bom yet?" She asked hopefully. She was still undecided about telling them about Donghae and the conversation between them that occurred last night, but she knew they had to know not only because they had the right to but also because they would find out about it eventually considering Donghae mentioned about showing up in their school again.
He shook his head. "I kind of just got here too."
"I see," Dara said softly. "Thanks!"
Not long after they arrived, the crowd was getting larger. Dara glanced at Jiyong worriedly because he had a bothered expression on again. She noticed was scanning the area just as much as she was. She figured it was Donghae he was scanning for. Though they were both anticipating the arrival of the same person, unlike Dara, Jiyong looked uneasy. Well, she was feeling uneasy too, but it was Jiyong so it was quite big of a deal.
"Are you okay?" She asked, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine," was all he said, not looking at her.
Dara nodded, pulling her hand back, but knew otherwise. Daesung went to do warm up at the gym while Seungri was called in by his groupmates so it was only Dara and Jiyong. They were sitting beside each other on a bench that was just behind the gym. They were waiting for Daesung to call them in.
"Dara," Jiyong called in an unsure tone of voice after a momentary silence.
"Hmm?" His gaze bore into Dara's as she turned to look at him, surprising her a little.
"I... You know..."
Those were the only words he managed to utter, as if he was struggling with himself whether or not he should continue speaking. Dara waited patiently for his next words. She watched him as he turned away and groaned in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Dara wanted to know. She was getting more and more worried.
It was an understatement to say that Jiyong's next words shocked her. It did more than that. It caught her off guard and made her speechless. Well, being speechless seemed to be happening to her more often than not lately.
"Joohyun told me about your ex boyfriend," he said in a quiet whisper, fidgeting.
Why did she tell him? She wondered to herself. It wasn't that she didn't want Jiyong to know but rather, she wasn't expecting Joohyun to actually tell someone. Amongst the three of them (Dara, Joohyun and Bom), Joohyun refused to talk about him, Donghae, the most because just the mention of his name always made her boil with anger.
Seeing Dara's expression, Jiyong was reluctant to continue but he already brought it up so might as well continue, he told himself. He didn't even know what came over him. It just came out of his mouth.
"She told me what he did to you."
The tone of his voice caused her to be perplexed. Was he angry? She saw him curl his hand into a fist.
Jiyong turned to face her again. He was staring right into her eyes and she stared back in perplexity. For some reason, Dara's heart started to race.
At that moment, Jiyong said, his tone more serious than ever, "I would never do that to you."
Dara wasn't expecting to hear that. She felt a warm blush rise to her cheeks. He was still staring at her, his eyes unreadable.
A genuine smile spread across Dara's face and placed a hand over his fist, feeling it soften as she did. "I know."
"DARA! JI!"
The startled both of them, making Dara pull her hand back.
It was Daesung's voice. They saw him calling from a distance.
"You can come in now!! It's about to start!!" He shouted.
Jiyong showed him a thumbs up in acknowledgment. With that, Daesung went back inside the gym.
"Let's go," Jiyong said, standing up. He held his hand out to Dara.
Dara took it and he pulled her up. They headed towards the gym for Daesung's match.
Daesung won first place for the relay and backstroke. Seungri who met with them after the match cheered, "Congratulations!!"
They were sitting in one of the school gazeboes just outside the cafeteria. There were the only ones there because the other students were either busy watching/competing in the games or going from stall to stall.
"You were really great!" Dara said with admiration, then she asked Jiyong who was seated beside her, "Wasn't he?"
Jiyong just nodded.
"Thank you," Daesung replied cheekily as he was ruffling his hair dry with a towel. He already changed back into his blue shirt and pants. "Joohyun and Bom aren't here yet?"
As if on cue, they heard Joohyun's voice.
"We're here."
Dara smiled upon seeing Joohyun and Bom but her expression changed almost immediately when she saw an additional person behind them. She had to restrain a gasp.
"Donghae?" Daesung blurted incredulously, dropping the towel he was holding onto the table, his eyes on Donghae.
Everyone's head turned to him in an instant. All of them looked baffled. Daesung called Donghae as if they were familiar with each other.
"You know him?" Seungri, Bom and Joohyun asked in unison.
"Well, yeah," Daesung shrugged. "Donghae is Jiyong's cousin."
A/N Kudos to those who has figured it out! Lol! Okay I'm not too happy with this chapter but blah :/ Anyway, I'm going to use this opportunity to promote my new ff which is ChanDara (Noona You're So Pretty). Haha! Hope you guys can check it out. Thank you! ;D
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