Chapter 13

It was the last day of the festivities and everyone was busy preparing for the last event of the Alice Festival.

Everyone was busy. Busy preparing setting the stage, the decorations, the food, looking for an appropriate attire, or even looking for date. Everyone… that is, except one…

Jiyong grunted as he removed the manga from his face. 'Idiots. What's so special about this day?' he thought distastefully. He lifted himself from the sakura branch that he's currently resting and settled himself into a sitting position, leaning his back against the trunk of the sakura tree. From where he is, he could see the scrambling of the students and faculty members preparing for the dance. He opened the manga to the page where he left off before he went to sleep and began to read. It was one of his favorite series, but as of the moment, he couldn't seem to understand what he was reading as the image of a certain brunette came into his mind.

The last dance is your last chance. After that, her fate will change. You're going to lose her…

'Dammit!' he cursed silently. Just then, a slight movement below made him look down and saw Jaejoong looking up to him.

"Jiyong," Jaejoong called. "What are you doing up there? I've been looking for you since this morning. Aren't you going to attend the dance?"

Jiyong just shrugged, then turned away. "It has nothing to do with me."

Jaejoong stared at Jiyong trying to figure out his thoughts.

"Is it because of Dara?"

Jiyong sighed, then closed his eyes. "What about that idiot?"

"Stop pretending, Ji. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Jaejoong snapped. "You're in love with her, aren't you?"

"Who knows?" Jiyong muttered as he covered his face with his manga.

"You've been so distant lately. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" Jaejoong persisted.

Jiyong jumped from the branch and faced Jaejoong. "I don't care anything about that idiot."

Jaejoong smiled. "Ji, I think you have forgotten that I used to be in love with Dara. And so did you. Although we're bestfriends, I still thought of you as a rival back then. The main difference was I got over it. You didn't. You always watch over her, don't you?"

Jiyong just gave him a cold glare and walked away.

"Hey Ji! You can still ask her for the last dance, you know," Jaejoong called out to him.

The last dance is your last chance. After that, her fate will change. You're going to lose her…

'What difference would a dance do? She already has someone else.' he thought as he walked away.

"Ne Dara-chan, what can you say about my dress?" CL asked twirling against the mirror.

"Hn."

"Dara-chan!" CL called out in loud voice causing Dara to jump.

"Ah! Sorry…" Dara apologized. "D-did you ask about something?"

CL sighed.

"Stupid," Bom muttered.

"Are you okay, Dara?" Minzy asked.

"Y-yeah," Dara replied. "I w-was just thinking about something." She let out an embarrassed laugh to cover her obvious state.

"Eh…?" CL then smiled mischievously. "Maybe you're nervous with anticipation for the last dance tonight with Top-kun. Right?"

"Oh, how sweet!" Minzy gushed.

CL and Minzy began to squeal with excitement over the dance. On the other hand, Bom was not really interested about the dance or TOP. She had been observing Dara's reactions since the start of the festival. To others, she still remains to be the sweet and clumsy Dara. But Bom knew her more than anyone else in the academy. And she knows that excitement isn't what she's feeling right now.

Dara excused herself from CL and Minzy, then went inside the bathroom. Bom followed her.

"What are you doing to yourself, baka?" Bom asked with her usual expressionless voice.

"W-what do you mean, Bommie?" Dara asked softly, trying to evade the question.

"You're not yourself," Bom observed.

Dara smiled a little. "Because I'm not clinging over you?"

Bom just stared at her. "I'm not sure why TOP-sempai became your boyfriend when you're not in love with him."

That surprised Dara. How did Bom know about that?

"Maybe you admired him before, but there's someone else that you love," Bom continued.

Dara gave out a fake laugh. "Come on Bom. TOP-kun is my boyfriend. There's no one else." She continued laughing and walked away… only to trip and fall flat on her face.

Bom narrowed her eyes at Dara's retreating back. "Both of you are real idiots," she muttered.

The dance event had progressed as planned. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun. The stage and decorations were perfect, the food was delicious, and the music was great. Laughter was heard everywhere as couples danced to the lively tune. Other students were just contented chatting about anything.

Dara and TOP just finished dancing and they went to a corner to get some rest. Dara laughed at TOP's comical face as he told his joke.

Suddenly TOP took hold of Dara's hand and stared at her seriously. Dara stopped laughing and began to feel uncomfortable.

"Dara, do you still love Jiyong?" TOP asked.

Dara turned her head away.

"I love you, Dara. I know that everything right now is just pretense. But please give me a chance," TOP pleaded softly. "I'll do everything to make you forget him."

"I know it's inappropriate since I'm not even your real boyfriend. But I'm taking the chance. In a week, I'm going to be transferred to an alice academy abroad. They have negotiated with the academy here since they are in need of my expertise with chemicals to finish a certain project." TOP continued. "I want you to come with me."

"T-TOP-kun…"

"If you really want to forget him, this is your chance. The academy won't stop you since you will transfer to another alice academy," TOP explained.

Dara stared blankly at TOP. Forget Jiyong… forget Jiyong… forget Jiyong… "T-TOP-kun, I…"

"Yo TOP-kun!"

Dara and TOP turned to see some senior students (TOP's friends) coming their way.

"Sorry, Dara-chan," one of his friends said. "Can we borrow TOP for a while? There's something we want to show him."

TOP sighed, then turned to Dara. "Dara, if you want, you can join us."

"No, it's okay." Dara smiled at them. "I'm a little tired from all the dancing. I think I'll take a little rest for now."

"But…"

"Just go with them," Dara said softly. "I'll be fine here."

TOP stared at her, then nodded. "Okay, I'll try to be back immediately."

Dara's eyes followed TOP as he went away. She sighed as the image of a certain raven haired boy came into her mind. "Jiyong…" she whispered.

"Where's Jiyong-kun?"

"I bought a really expensive dress just for him."

"Oh, I'm so excited. He's going to be my last dance."

"Oh yeah? Dream on, 'coz he's going to be mine!"

Well, ever since the rumor that Kwon Jiyong is in love with someone, a lot of hopeful females prepared well for the dance hoping that one of them was the girl who had captured the heart of the infamous firecaster.

Jaejoong and Bom passed by the fan club and heard the argument. Bom turned to them and said, "He's not going to dance any of you."

"What?" the fan girls shrieked.

"The fortune teller said that the girl Kwon Jiyong kissed is the one he's in love with, right?" Bom asked.

"What are you talking about? We just know that Jiyong-kun is in love with someone," one of the fan girls snapped.

"You were not even there," another girl commented.

"Is that so? But I know everything that happens in this academy. And I know who the girl is," Bom said.

"WHO IS IT?" they scrambled to Bom.

"Five thousand rabbits each," Bom said with her emotionless voice.

"Hah! She's just bluffing," one of the girls said. "Anyway if it's Jiyong-kun's first kiss, we already know who it was. But they have broken up long ago, so Jiyong-kun is no longer in love with her. Come on, girls."

When they were left alone, Jaejoong turned to Bom. "You really know something, don't you?"

"I already know it long before," Bom said. "Who in his right mind would kiss an idiot if he's not in love with her?" Bom glanced at Jaejoong, one eyebrow raised up. "You know what I'm talking about, right? Because you kissed her also before."

Jaejoong blushed deep crimson at that. 'How the heck did she know that?'

Dara glanced around the dance floor noting how happy and carefree the students were dancing with their respective partners. It has been a fun night. She was enjoying every bit of it. She was happy. She lifted her hand to her chest. 'Then why do I feel incomplete?' she asked herself. 'Is it because he's not here?'

She shook her head trying to clear out her mind. 'I need to forget him,' she thought. Her eyes caught the dark brown hair of TOP who was quite a distance away. 'TOP-kun loves me. And I used to have a huge crush on him. I-if we stop this pretense of a relationship and make it real, will I learn to love him? If I go away, will I forget Jiyong?'

She felt her heart constrict that she felt a need to get some fresh air. She went out of the dance floor, walking while deep in thought.

Before she knew it, Dara found herself walking towards the Sakura tree. When she was near, she noticed a glimpse of something or someone behind the tree trunk. Her heart began to pound wildly.

'Jiyong…'

Before she could stop, she found herself walking closer to the tree. Then she settled herself at the other side of the trunk. They are now sitting opposite each other, their backs leaning against the tree trunk.

"You're such an anti-social, Jiyong. You're boring yourself here. Why aren't you joining the festivities?" Dara asked softly.

There was a short silence followed by a curt reply. "It's a complete waste of time. What do you want, Polkadots?"

Dara sighed. 'Polkadots again, huh?' But she felt so tired that she's not in the mood to argue with him. She just leaned against the tree and looked up at the stars.

"I just liked it here. It doesn't have anything to do with you.", she answered back. "The last dance is going to start in a little while. Don't you have someone in mind?",Dara asked curiously. "I heard that there's some girl that you like? Why didn't you ask her out?"

Silence.

Dara laughed. "Then it must be a rumor after all. Besides, if you really have someone you liked, you would have dated her already. You don't seem to have any problems asking a girl out."

Silence.

Dara sighed. "Oh well, if you don't want to engage in a conversation, I'll go back now to the auditorium. TOP-kun might start looking for me. You should learn to enjoy even once in a while, Jiyong-kun." She let out a sad smile as she listened to the disco music that was loud enough to even reach their location. 'I guess this is goodbye, Jiyong. I've decided. I'm going with TOP-kun.'

She stood up and started to walk away when she felt Jiyong grabbed her hand. She turned in surprise to find out that he was already standing behind her. They stared into each other, and as if on cue, a slow music was played in the auditorium.

Jiyong pulled her close, his hand resting on her waist.

"You said I'm boring myself by not taking part of the activities. So, would you care to grant me this dance?', Jiyong whispered as he stared at Dara's hazel eyes.

Trapped by those crimson orbs, she found herself lifting her hands up to Jiyong's shoulders as they swayed slowly into the music. Dara felt the loud pounding of her heart as she showered through the warmth in Jiyong's arms. Why is it that being here with Jiyong just felt so… nice?

So entranced with the moment that she wasn't able to protest when Jiyong cupped her cheek and captured her lips in a kiss. Dara was shocked and tried to protest but only caused Jiyong to deepen the kiss. Jiyong coaxed her to respond until she finally gave up and wrapped her arms around Jiyong's neck and abandoned herself to the kiss.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Aigoooo~~~~

the FINAL CHAPTER.. 

I think I'll post it later. kekeke~

I need to eat dinner first! 

so... pyong!

-POOF-