Chapter 48

~*Dara’s POV*~

I stare up at my dark apartment as the car comes to a stop.

“We’re here.” Jiyong says beside me. I nod as I slowly unbuckle my seatbelt. My mind was blank but my body felt heavy, unwilling to get out of the seat. I turn to look at Jiyong who I found was staring at me. We share each other’s stare for a few minutes before he smiled at me and unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the car door and swiftly stepped out to come to my side of the car and opened my door for me. I stare at his open hand before looking up at his boyish grin.

“C’mon.” He says sweetly to me causing me to smile. I place my hand on his and feel instant warmth and a buzzing feeling spread throughout my body. He gently pulls me out so that we we’re standing face to face smiling like idiots at each other. As I looked at his love-filled eyes, my mind was having a hard time believing that this was all real. It was only just a couple hours ago that I realized my feelings for this man before me. And now here he is, giving me the same look I am towards him. It was the most surreal but precious thing.

“Well…” He leans forward to give me kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes and leaned into the touch. It sent shivers down my back. “Good night, Dara.”

My eyes shoot open at the words and I can no longer feel his warmth. I turn to see him begin to make his way to the car and a feeling a loss shoots into my stomach.

“Wait.” I say as I quickly grab the back of his shirt. He stops midway and looks at me surprised.

“What’s wrong?” He asks as I wonder myself.

“Do…” I begin as I feel the words forming in my mouth before I can think of it, “Do you want to come up?”

His eyes widen and his mouth opens to only be closed again. I stare up at him with expectant eyes and my heart beating like crazy.

“A-Are you sure?” He finally speaks, “I… I thought you would want to be alone.”

I consider the thought of being alone in my apartment… of trying to fall asleep… and waking up the next morning not knowing if everything was real or not. My grip tightened around his shirt as I shake my head.

“I don’t want to be alone…” I say softly allowing such weak words leave my mouth… just this once.

A huge smile slowly spread across Jiyong’s face as he turned around and grabbed my hand with his.

“Then let’s go up.” He says as he squeezes my hand. I nod and smile at him as we walked hand in hand up the steps to my apartment.

“Do you want anything to drink?” I ask as normal as possible as I watch him look around my apartment curiously. It’s not like this is his first time being here… but it was the first time he was actually conscious… My eyes scanned my apartment making sure nothing embarrassing was lying around. Luckily for me I decided to clean things up a bit before leaving the house this morning.

“I’m good…” He says obviously too concentrated on taking in everything that was around him. Finally, he seemed content as he takes a seat on the couch. It takes me a while to realize I was staring at him and that he caught me doing so. A smile forms on his perfect face again as he holds out both of his arms and motions for me to come to him.

“Come here.” His voice was sweet and full of affection making me blush furiously.

“A-Ah, I-I need to go put things down in my room first!” I say quickly as I make my way down the hall and into my bedroom. I close the door behind me and take a moment to catch my breath.

What were you thinking, Dara?! Inviting him up… at this time of night!? My poor over exerted heart yells at me. But we all knew it’s what we wanted. The thought of being alone in this apartment… full of memories of Sohee would just be too strange… not to mention my fear of waking up the next morning and wondering if this all really happened…

Then are you expecting Jiyong to stay the night?! My mind screams at me. My eyes bulge at the thought as I realized that deep down that is in fact what I had in mind. I inwardly groan and my carelessness and stupidity.

It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen. And he’ll probably end up leaving after a while… My heart instantly pinched at the thought of him leaving. Maybe just not right away…

I look down at my simple white tee and jeans that I had on today and shake my head disapprovingly. I quickly make my way to my closet and search through the drawers until I was satisfied. I stand in front of the mirror, let down my hair and inspect my outfit. I guess this will be okay?

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

I finally settle down from giggling after Dara ran off to her room at the speed of light. She’s really so cute when she’s embarrassed. I lean my head back onto the couch and stare up at the white ceiling. Images of everything that happened today come rushing to my mind. The MV shooting… Sohee’s threats… Dara standing in front of us … saying that she liked me. So plan ‘Protect Dara’ really worked? A smile forms on my face as I try to cover it with my hands. I’ve been smiling like this all night but I just can’t stop it. An image of Dara’s face when she invited me up and saying that she didn’t want to be alone appeared fresh in my vision. I was so shocked to see her openly depend on me. I guess the day has finally come where my feelings have reached her and, surprisingly, vice versa.

When I finally felt that I could control my face again, I dropped my hands to the side welcoming the sight of the ceiling once more. So here I am in the girl I love’s apartment… What will come out from tonight? I think back to her flustered face and smirk. What was that silly girl thinking? I shake my head at the thought and sigh, It’s not like I’m going to attack her.

My ears perk at the sound of her bedroom door opening and her footsteps making their way back towards the living room. I straighten myself up and push the smile off of my face to look as nonchalant as possible, but once I see her and what she was wearing I think to myself if I’m going to have to take back what I thought just a few minutes ago.

She appeared around the corner in an off-shoulder black shirt and white shorts allowing me to see her smooth and milky skin. I gulped as I watch her go towards the kitchen and tip toe to get a glass from the cupboard then gasp when I watch her shirt rise up exposing the small of her back. I could feel myself getting warm very quickly but could not take my eyes off of her. Every move she made was slowly torturing me. Was she doing this on purpose?

After filling her cup with water and taking a few sips I see her eyes flutter up to meet my gaze.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice disrupts the thick silence and tension in the room. I manage to shake my head as I watch her take another sip allowing me to see the crook of her neck… and how badly I wanted to…

AGH! I mentally slap myself. What the hell is wrong with you?! I take a deep breath before standing up and made my way over to her. She stops and cautiously stares at me before taking another sip.

“Actually…” I say slowly as close in on her immediately feeling her warmth, “I’m kind of thirsty too…”

“O-Oh… Let me get you a glas—“ She is about to turn away from me to reach the cupboard but I quickly entrap her between me and the counter with her back against my chest. I reach around and grab the glass she was holding and bring it to my lips while I watched her keep very still. After downing the glass, I set it back on the table and leaning into her in the process. At the opportune moment, I rest my chin on her exposed shoulder feeling her rising warmth. She flinches at my touch but doesn’t protest. I take this as an opportunity to wrap my arms around her waist, bringing her closer to me, remembering how well her body fit against mine.

“Dara…” I say softly in her ear.

“Yes?”

I remain silent not sure what it is I wanted to say… or even if I wanted to say anything but her name. I just wanted to say her name over and over again and be able to hear her reply.

“Dara…” I say again as I nuzzle my head into her neck smelling her sweet scent.

“W-What is it, Jiyong?” My heart jumped at her saying my name, I pull her in tighter to me letting myself get lost in how this felt, having her in my arms… hearing her say my name.

Then I found the words that I wanted to say to her.

“Thank you.” I whisper, letting the words sink in. She turns her head slightly and I see the pink on her cheeks.

“For what…?”

I wasn’t exactly sure myself so I just started from the beginning when we first met.

“Thank you for auditioning to be my backup dancer. For showing me that there are still people out there that appreciate and admire my work rather than just my looks. For blowing me away with your talent. For being so strong and coming back even though I made a huge mistake not picking you from the start. For making me understand exactly how amazing you are both as a person and performer. For giving me a second chance when I was an idiot and turned against you. For being so kind and compassionate to a person who did nothing but hurt you. For making me the luckiest man on earth to be able to hold you like this and tell you all these things. For making me fall in love with you. And most importantly…” I pulled away and turned her so that she was facing me. Her face was in complete awe as I looked into her watery eyes. I brushed a strand of her head to the side as I stared at her gorgeous face.

“Thank you for listening to my feelings that I was trying to get across to you all this time… and returning those same feelings to me.” A single tear escapes from the corner of her eye. She tries to wipe it away but I beat her to it when I cup her face in my hands. I slowly inched my face towards hers and watched as her eyes slowly began to close giving me the permission I needed. I felt a burning desire inside of me that wanted to feel the warmth of her lips on mine, to taste what her perfect lips tasted like.

Just as I felt our lips brush against each other, sending an electric shock through my entire body, a ringing noise disrupts the silence in the apartment causing us both to jump. I regrettably pull back and give her a small smile allowing her enough space to grab the phone.

“H-Hello?” Dara stutters and she catches her breath while answering her phone. There was a long pause and I saw Dara stiffen at the voice on the other line.

“Ah, Uncle… yes…” I tense up now knowing that the person on the other line had to be none other than Sohee’s father.  I watch as she sits on the couch with her back facing me, not letting me see her expression.

“Yes…yes… I know…” She said over and over again as Sohee’s father on the other line spoke in full sentences. “I understand… No, I’m sorry… Yes…”

I feel like I hear her voice crack but am not sure because of how softly she was speaking. I slowly make my way over to her before taking a seat on the couch next to her.

“You and auntie have been wonderful to me… I’m sorry to have caused you trouble… Yes… I will… I’m very sorry… Yes… Goodnight.” She pulls the phone away from her ear and presses the end button before gently placing it back on the receiver.

She kept her back facing me as we sat in silence.

“Dara…” I inch closer to her before placing my hand on her shoulder, “What happened? What did he say?”

She was silent for so long that I felt I might have been pushing her for information she wasn’t yet ready to give me. But finally she responds.

“Sohee’s upset and has been crying all night in her room…” She says softly still keeping her back towards me. “Uncle called to ask if something has happened between us or at work…”

As I continue to watch her back, I begin to notice her shoulders were shaking and her chest was moving up and down irregularly. I pulled gently at her shoulder to make her turn to me, which she complied. Her eyes were filled with tears and one or two drops have escaped already. She raised her eyes to look into mine and I could see the conflict happening in her head.

“Uncle… wasn’t angry… at me… He was just worried… for both of us.” She sniffed and tried to hold in her tears but they were pouring out more and more. “He said that no matter what… I am still like a daughter to them… that whatever has happened will pass…” My heart begins to tear as I see what it is that Sohee warned long ago. I was seeing the girl I loved being torn by the people she loved.

“Jiyong…” She calls out before her face distorts from the pain she was feeling, “How am I supposed to tell them? How am I supposed to tell them how much their actual daughter has tried to hurt me?” She lets out a few sobs while grabbing onto the sleeve of my shirt. “How am I supposed to tell them that their daughter hates me and that I now no longer see her as family?”

I wrap my arm around her head and bring her closer to me, letting her sob into my chest. I feel her release everything into me, her shoulders were shaking and her cries were muffled. I place my other hand on hers and squeeze it, making sure that she knows that I’m here with her, that she’s not alone.

As if it were possible, it was like her pain and suffering was seeping into me as she cried into my chest. My heart felt heavy and my eyes watered slightly at the pain I was feeling. But I was able to stay strong for her. I was able to keep my arm wrapped around her to support her. Because although Sohee may have been right about how Dara would handle this situation, she was wrong about her being alone.

When I felt her grip tighten around my hand and felt her head bury into my chest, I knew that she knew she wasn’t alone. She was depending on me, despite what Sohee predicted.

I was right there by her side and was never going to let her go.

~*Dara’s POV*~

My eyes slowly opened as the sunlight made its way through the curtains of the window. It took some time for my eyes to readjust and for my memories of last night to flood back to me. That was when I became aware of the chest my head was using as a pillow. Slowly, I push myself up to see a beautiful picture of a sleeping dragon before me. His head was resting on the back of the couch and he looked a bit uncomfortable in the position he was lying in.

I watched as the sun illuminated his face and the words he said to me last night began to replay in my head. The amount of feelings I felt at that moment was so overwhelming and so unexpected. I had no idea what came over me and ended up crying in front of him again. I bring my fingers up to touch my lips upon thinking back to our almost kiss. My eyes move to his slightly open mouth and stare at them wondering how something so soft and warm could give me a tingling sensation at the back of my neck. Our lips only brushed for a second but just remembering it brought goosebumps to my skin.

In fear of waking him up, I slowly inched my way away from him and off the couch. However, just as I was about to stand up, I turn to look at him as I feel his hand wrap around my arm and am welcomed by his gorgeous brown eyes.

“Good morning.” He says with a raspy voice but a smile was placed on his face.

“Good morning.” I smile back at him, remember this was our second time waking up to each other first thing in the morning.

He pushes himself up and takes a long and big stretch.

“Sorry… you must have been so uncomfortable last night… you should’ve woken me up.” I say apologetically as I hear all different parts of his body crack.

He shakes his head and smiles at me again, “It wasn’t. I was really happy like that actual. We should do that more often.” I blush at his comment and turn away from him.

“Hey,” I feel his hand rub my back, “How are you feeling?”

The feelings I had last night after talking to my uncle came back again, but it wasn’t as intense.

“Okay, I guess… It’s better that I let it out…” I shrug as I think back to all the thoughts going through my head on how I was going to deal with the situation with Sohee. Although I was able to say those harsh words to her so easily last night, she was still someone I grew up with… Right now, I may not see her as my cousin anymore… but it was still difficult to break off a piece of my life like that. Also, like she said, it puts my relationship with my uncle and aunt in jeopardy, the two people that I saw as parents to me.

“It’s hard.” Jiyong’s voice is now loud and clear causing me to turn to look at him, “What happened last night was hard… but it was what you had the right to do.” I stare at his face that was looking at me so seriously. “None of it was your fault and I’m sure your uncle and aunt will see that and will understand whatever may happen next.”

As I looked at him in the eye, I wondered how is it that he seemed to understand my thoughts and what I am going through. When I looked at him and listened to what he had to say, I could believe him with all my heart. It was just that easy.

I smiled and nodded as I find a newfound strength. “Thank you, Jiyong.”

He opened his arms and motioned me again to come towards him, this time I did and fell into his open arms, wrapping mine around his back. It felt relaxing, feeling the warmth and strength of his arms and body, listening to his heartbeat against mine. I smiled to myself knowing that after everything that happened last night, Jiyong was right. I made the right choice.

Suddenly, I hear the familiar tone from my cell phone. I look up at Jiyong who is now giving me an adorable boyish pout but releases me, “If this happens one more time, I swear I’m throwing all phones out the window.”

I giggle at his silliness before getting up to search for my phone. Once I find it, I open it to see a text message from Youngbae.

Oh! I look at the time on my phone and see that it’s 12:56 PM. That’s right. He was supposed to text me around this time.

I open the text and read his message slowly as excitement builds up inside of me thinking that I was about to find out what Youngbae has been up to.

Turn on your TV. Watch SBS Inkigayo.

I raise an eyebrow as I reread the text. Inkigayo?

“Hey Jiyong?” I call out to him from my room.

“Yeah?”

“Could you turn my TV on and turn to SBS Inkigayo?” I ask him while texting back a reply to Youngbae.

“Sure?” He questions but minutes later I hear the TV turn on and channels switching until it finally reaches what must be Inkigayo.

Ok. The TV is now. What am I looking for?

I send the text to Youngbae as I begin to walk back to the living room but just as I reach around the corner, Jiyong is up and is pressing numbers frantically into his phone.

“No way…” He says in complete disbelief as he walks past me and begins pacing in front of the kitchen with his phone pressed against his head.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him as I watch him curse to himself dialing the number again, “Jiyong? What are you doing? Who are you calling?”

Jiyong stares at his phone in disbelief and I assume the call didn’t go through again. “That guy… don’t tell me.”

I tilt my head quizzically before turning my attention to the TV.

[[Author's note: Open the link in a new window for the performance!! Inkigayo ON.]]

The stage was set up with fake buildings on either side creating a sort of alley in the middle where I could make out a figure of a man on stage. There was a bright light at the back of the stage, casting a shadow over the man’s face. Screams of fangirls began to rise as music began playing and slowly increased in volume. As the camera panned closer to the stage, I could make out the figure more clearly. He was well built and was wearing a simple black shirt, jeans, and covered half his face with his tilted baseball cap.

My brows furrow as I begin to get a sense of familiarity and my heartbeat quickened as the melody of the music flowed into my brain.

Where… have I heard this song before…?

Finally, a spot light and revealed the man who began dancing to the song. His movements, his voice, his demeanor was so familiar. My eyes widen as he began to sing, realizing who it was.

♪ It’s as if you know me just from the first glance

When I saw that familiar smile of yours

My footsteps stopped as well ♫

My mouth drops open as I listen to the melody I’ve heard before… that I’ve sung before with him. This whole time…

♪ I just want to know if you feel the same

Where u at, where u at, where u at

Tell me now ♫

♪ And let my love for you begin

Where u at, girl ♫

In the corner of the screen appears a small box: [Where U At] Taeyang

“Youngbae…” The name escapes my lips in disbelief as I watch him dance and sing in front of me on screen. There was no mistake that it was him. It was Dong Youngbae.

I turn to look at Jiyong who was now standing still and watching with the same shocked expression as me. It was all making sense now… that time we sang together at the studio, how good his voice was, the song I never heard before that wasn’t one of Jiyong’s songs, then his recent sudden disappearance.

“He was…” Jiyong finally speaks as he comes to the same realization as me.

“A YG trainee…” I finish his sentence as I turn my attention back to the screen. Throughout the whole performance, we remained in silence as we watched our friend make his debut on stage for the entire Korea to watch and marvel at his talent.

Dong Youngbae was a YG trainee… and is now Taeyang, a Kpop star.

*BlueNote*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sorry for the delayed update!
But I hope you all will enjoy this chapter :)
Also, I know that a lot of things have been happening regarding shippers
So I hope that this chapter will somewhat cheer you up
Stay strong everyone!

Please keep commenting and subscribing :D
Thank you for all the comments/subscribers/upvotes so far!
Until the next update!

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