Chapter 33

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

“Wait.”

One moment too late from stopping myself, I had caught up to them and grabbed Dara’s wrist, stopping her just before she could leave the building with Youngbae.

I watched as she turned to look at me with wide eyes and a hesitant voice “Jiyong…”

“Ji, what’s wrong? Youngbae asks, both of us at the end of each of Dara’s hands. I can feel my grip tighten around her wrist now aware of the situation I just put myself in.

Sh*t... what am I supposed to say?

I searched her face for any signs of what she wants to hear from me, what she could possibly be thinking but she looked just as lost and confused as I was. I bite my lower lip, thinking of the right words.

“I…I just need to talk to you… Dara.” I let the sweetness of her name roll off my tongue, sending shivers down my spine from calling the name of the girl I just realized I love. And the girl I betrayed and hurt.

“Jiyong…” Youngbae’s presence has shifted and now he was in between me and Dara, with on hand resting of my arm that was holding onto her. “It’s been a long day for Dara…”

Even though I was listening to his words, I didn’t want to move my eyes from her. As if she would just disappear if I did.

“I know you want to apologize to her… but I think it’s best if she gets a break from it all. Just for tonight. Right Dara?”

Apologize? Is that all I wanted to do? I wanted to apologize to her… more than anything… but what was I suppose to tell her? Her cousin, her family that she loved, told me horrible lies about her. Looking into her eyes… how tired and hurt she already was… how was I supposed to hurt her again?

I can see in her eyes that she’s waiting anxiously for me to explain myself. To explain to her why I misjudged her and why I was so easily able to believe in someone who had betrayed her. I wanted to clear my name. I wanted her to understand that I was fed lie after lie from the moment we met. I wanted to tell her that even though all those lies and confusions, deep down I felt I knew her and deep down I felt a connection with her.

The quickly rising pain inside of me causes me to shift my gaze from her expecting eyes.

I hear her voice, clearly disappointed, “Youngbae… let’s go…”

She pulls away her arm from my now weak hold and my arm hangs limply back at my side. I feel Youngbae’s hand pat me on the shoulder before leading her out the door, hand-in-hand once again.

It was pure torture.

“J-Jiyong o-oppa?”

A feeling of disgust immediately rises in me upon hearing this familiar voice. I feel the presence of Sohee’s hand as she reaches for me, but before she could touch my arm I pull away and turn to her.

“Don’t touch me.” I growl, staring at her shocked expression.

“B-But… what d-did I d-do?” She started whimpering, tears welling up in her eyes but it had no affect on me. I felt as cold as ice.

“Just drop the act.” I try to not let my voice rise, “How long did you think you could keep this up for, huh?”

She furrows her brows and I respond to her confusion, “I know everything. Your lies about Dara, your entire plan of courting me…” Her eyes grew wide, “It’s over.”

She lowers her head as realization hits her and I watch her body shake.

“No one knows exactly how devious you’ve been right? Only I know the full story… but I know YG sajangnim is well on his way figuring it out now… especially with the video he has of you accusing Dara. How long did you really think you could keep this up?” Although her head is down, I continue to stare at the top of her head, forcing all of my energy and anger into her.

“You’ll be out of here before you know it.” I waste no more words on the likes of her. As I make my way past her, she speaks.

“Do you like Dara?”

I stop in my tracks at her question taking me by surprise. For a second, I had to process it since I’ve only made the discovery a few minutes earlier.

“What does it matter? You won’t even stand a chance.” I reply harshly.

“You can’t end up with her.”

I abruptly turn back to face her, anger burning inside of me at her statement.

“What did you just say?”

Her new demeanor took me by surprise. She was no longer hunched over and frail… there was now confidence in her voice… and now there was a sly smile on her face as she looked at me.

“Even if you like her… you won’t end up with her.” She states again.

“And why is that?”

Her sly smile grows wider as she starts playing with her hair. “Because just like everyone else, she doesn’t know exactly how much I hate her, how much I’ve been planning from the beginning to break her down.” The coldness in her voice brought goose bumps to my skin. “Just like everyone else… she only knows that you chose me over her not knowing the lies I fed you.”

She smirks a little before continuing, “I must say, it was harder to convince you than I thought… I guess I underestimated that b*tch… but in the end, just like I thought, you were just a big softie on the inside who couldn’t stand a little girl like me cry.” She feigns a pout and changes to a cute voice.

How can a girl like her exist?

“What makes you think she won’t find out?” But as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew the answer just by looking at the smile on her face.

“Because… if she found out that her baby cousin, whom she loved as her own sister, hated her guts since the day they met and wanted nothing more but for her destruction…”

“It would crush her…” I finish her sentence as everything falls into place. Perfecting Sohee’s plan.

“Aigoo, my Jiyong oppa is so smart.” She giggles and makes her way towards me. “And so sweet too,” She is standing in front of me, bringing her hand to my cheek, “You wouldn’t want your precious Dara crumble before your eyes and not be able to help her… now would you?”

I wanted to push her away… anything to get this monster in front of me away… but I couldn’t budge.

She continues, “And, you already hurt her so bad before… with not believing in her and all,” She moves closer to my ear and whispers, “would you really want to hurt her again by telling her that the only family she has hates her?”

Only… family? I feel dread creep onto me. She pulls back clearly enjoying the shock on my face, “Oh… you didn’t know?”

She pouts again and sniffles, “Poor Dara unnie’s parents abandoned her. She’s allllll~ alone.”

My body shuts down as my mind completely empties at how useless and trapped I felt. I feel her arms wrap around me as she rests her head on my chest.

“So, Jiyong oppa, no matter how much you want me gone or how much you hate me. It doesn’t matter.” She turns her head, resting her chin on my chest and stares up at me with a wide smile, “If I’m fired, I will crush her and blame my hate for her on you. And, if you try and tell her the truth to win her affection, it will crush her beyond repair. And no matter what happens she’ll see it as your fault for my hatred and,” She giggles at the thought, “she will never be able to bring herself to love you.”

She lets go of me and leans in, “If I can’t have you,” She kisses me on the cheek and whispers, “No one will.”

And with that, Sohee skips down the hall, leaving me in absolute shock, horror, and with one concrete thought in my head that was going to tear me to shreds.

I can never tell her. I can’t hurt her anymore than I’ve already had. I can never tell her the truth. I have to protect her.

Even if it means she’ll never love me back.

*BlueNote*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
HI everyone! Here's another shortish update for you all
I am currently in a weird situation where I have exams every week
So although I'll be updating, it won't be as frequent as before!
I will try my best to balance updating and studying
But thank you all for being so patient and understanding
Hope you enjoy this chapter
and don't forget to comment/subscribe!! <3

*If you are confused about layout/weird details that seem wrong+right at the same time, please read the story description!*