Chapter 50

I check the text from Jiyong to make sure that I was at the right address. I had to strain my neck as I looked up at the building in front of me. It was much taller than my apartment and everything looked… expensive. I feel nerves creep up on me as things reconnected in my head.

That’s right… I’m falling for Jiyong who just so happens to also be G-Dragon.

I walk towards the main entrance and push through the revolving doors to arrive in the main lobby.

“Good evening, Miss.” A man in a suit greets me from behind the counter on the side. I smile at him as I get closer, “Which apartment are you visiting tonight?”

“Ah,” I look at my phone again, “21...” I stare at my phone confused. That’s strange… 21 is the floor… Is there no apartment letter or number? “I’m sorry there doesn’t seem to be anything after that…”

There was a slight pause before he smiled at me again, “Alright, please wait for me to announce you.” He picks up the phone to the side and dials in a number, “Your name, miss?”

“Park Sandara.” He nods and continues to smile as he waits for the other line to pick up. “Ah, good evening sir. I have a Miss Park Sandara here to see you… Yes, I understand. I’ll send her right up. Thank you. Have a good night.” He gently places the phone down and makes his way from behind the counter.

“This way please,” He politely gestures towards the elevators before leading me there. When we get closer, I see that an elevator is already waiting for us. He holds the elevator door open for me and takes a step back to bow.

“Enjoy your evening Miss Park.” I manage to shine him a smile before the doors close. That’s when I realized how stiff I was and was holding my breath the whole time. The elevator begins to move before I even remembering pressing a button but see that button 21 was already pressed.

Wow… this is intense. I’ve never been in a place that just screamed ‘rich’.

Finally, the elevator stops and opens up to a small area with a black metal door directly facing me. I step out and notice the cabinet against the left wall and a small couch to the right. As I’m wondering if I’m at the right place, the door opens and I see a familiar face.

“You almost didn’t make it on time.” Jiyong leans against the doorframe while smirking at me. I look at him up and down and see that he’s changed into plain jeans and a black button down shirt. If I wasn’t too amazed from the ‘apartment’ I could see behind him, I would probably be drooling over how amazing he looked. Well, maybe I still drooled a bit.

“T-This is your apartment?!” I gape as I slip on the house slippers that were placed in front of me, and shuffle into what seemed like a penthouse suite. “This place is… gigantic!” I point to his living room, “Your living room is the size of my entire place!”

He laughs as stands beside me, “Well, I can space things out since I have the whole floor.” My mouth drops even lower, which I didn’t even think was possible.

“T-The w-whole FLOOR?!” I cover my mouth in shock, “So that’s why you didn’t have an A, B, C or D for your apartment number!” He stares at me amusingly as I try to recover from the explosion of my mind. I knew he was rich, but not THIS RICH!

“Alright, alright. Enough about my place.” He tries to stifle his laugh and leads me to the dining room, “It’s time to eat.”

He pulls out a chair from under the long glass table, letting me take a seat. I finally come back to my senses and see that they table is empty. I look at him curiously, “What are we eating? Air?” I poke fun at him that I know he catches when I see him smile.

“Is that what you wanted for dinner? I mean, I already cooked us something but if you want air instead…” My stomach protests even before I can, which he hears loud and clear.

“Alright, alright. I’ll be nice. I’ll go get it.” He says while laughing all the way into the kitchen. I glare at him but watch carefully as he grabs some bowls and makes his way to the stove where I spot a covered pot.

So, this was why he went home before me? To cook us dinner?! My heart melts at the thought. How can this be? Kwon Jiyong. The G-Dragon. Is cooking me dinner?! I want to squeal but somehow mange to keep it to myself when I see him walking back to me. I move around in my seat as he gets closer and closer, excited about what this amazing man has made.

“Here you go. Cooked in the home of G-Dragon, by the one and only G-Dragon.” He says as he places the bowl in front of me. The familiar smell is what hits me first and then came the visual of a bowl of instant noodles. I stare at it a bit as he takes a seat next to me and places his own bowl down.

“This is instant noodles.” I point at the bowl while looking at him.

But before he could even say anything, I burst out laughing. This… guy… omo! I have to hold my stomach as I start to feel my abs clenching so hard that it hurt.

“Yah! Stop laughing!” I hear Jiyong’s annoyed voice, “I put a lot of work into this!” I try to calm down and look at him as he points inside my bowl.

“See? There’s egg in there and also chili and onions!” This statement just takes me over the edge again, especially hearing the seriousness in his voice.

Finally, after a while I feel that I can calm down and wipe away the tears. I take in deep breaths while settling down and look to Jiyong who was staring grumpy at the bowl in front of him.

“Aigo,” I tap Jiyong’s arm which he pulls away, “You are just so funny. I wasn’t expecting… instant noodles.” I barely am able to say it without wanting to burst into laughter again.

“It’s the only thing I can cook really really well…” He trails off while sticking his chopsticks into his bowl and moving the noodles around. He sighs and pouts making me feel a little guilty for laughing at him. He was just so… cute!

“Never mind, let’s not eat it… Let’s just order in.” Just as I see him reach for my bowl, I quickly grab my chopsticks and grab a mouthful of noodles and putting it into my mouth.

“Y-Yah! Don’t eat that!” He protests but I continue anyways. I sit back and chew allowing the flavor to spread throughout my mouth as Jiyong watches me carefully. My eyes grow wide in surprise and turn to him.

“Omo,” I swallow, “This is delicious!”

“Really?” His face lights up in excitement but he quickly leans back into his chair coolly, “I mean… I told you.”

I giggle before taking more bits from the noodles. It was actually really good. One of the best instant noodles I’ve had. As I keep eating, I feel his eyes on me, watching as I devour the meal he made for me.

“What? You aren’t going to eat?” I ask him and point to his bowl, “If you aren’t going to eat it, I’ll eat it for you.” I pretend to reach out for the bowl but he moves it away from me.

“I’ll eat it. I’ll eat it.” He says defensively before digging in. I smile to myself as I eat up the remaining soup and noodles.

“Ahh~ All done!” I sigh fully satisfied and place my chopsticks down. He’s giving me a slightly amused and disgusted look.

“There you go again eating like that. Are you really a girl?” He smirks before taking another bite.

“If I’m not a girl then I guess you love a boy then.” My mouth spits out before I could stop how stupid I might have sound. I blush slightly embarrassed by openly mentioning his feelings for me.

“I guess I do.” Is all he says as he continues to eat, but it was enough to rush all the blood into my head. I lower my head to try and hide my red face but hear him chuckle quietly, indicating he knew very well what he did to me with just four words.

“Stupid Jiyong…” I grumble to myself as my only comeback.

“No, no, no. Stop. You can’t do this, Dara.” Jiyong groans as he tries to push me away. “Dara. Ugh… Stop! Really… you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“Jiyong, I want to do it. Trust me. I’ve already decided I was going to do this once I found out you made dinner.” I protest and pull my hands away from his grasp. Just as I was about to reach for it, he grabs my hand again.

“You can’t.” Jiyong says again this time more seriously.

“Why not?” I whine.

“Because you’re the guest.” He stands his ground, “And guests can’t wash the dishes.” He points at the sink.

“Okay, first of all. There are only two bowls, two spoons, two pairs of chopsticks, and one pot. That’s not a lot of things to wash. Second, my rule is the cook doesn’t clean.”

“This is my house so your rules don’t apply here!”

I groan at how stubborn he was being but I am just as stubborn.

“If you let me clean this time, I’ll cook for you next time.” We stare at each other for a good few minutes until I feel him release my hand. I smile triumphantly at him and roll up my sleeves.

“You better keep your promise. I’m not letting you get off that easily.” He warns as I turn on the faucet.

“Arasso, I promise.” I smile as I begin to wash the bowls. After a while, I suddenly feel Jiyong’s arms wrap around me. I jump at the suddenness but relax right away into his arms. He nuzzles his head into my shoulder and sighs.

“Do you know how beautiful you look right now?”

I blush at his words but try to laugh it off.

“When I’m washing dishes?”

“Mhmm.” He mumbles.

“You’re weird.” I turn off the faucet and dry my hands. I wait for him to let go of me so I can move away but he doesn’t, if anything his hold gets tighter around me.

“What are we going to do?”

I turn my head towards his, “What do you mean?”

“About Sohee?” My heart jumps at the topic but I try to stay calm. It finally occurred to me that we still haven’t discussed it at all. He finally releases me allowing me turn to face him. His face was serious but there was a tint of worry.

“I…” I begin wanting to make that worry go away, but the words wouldn’t come. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do.

“You don’t want to rat her out? After everything she’s done to you… to us?” I wince at the memories flooding back to me. It was completely logical to lay everything out in the open. Why should I still care about her?

“Dara,” Jiyong grabs a hold of my hand and caresses it with his thumb, “I know why you’re so hesitant and I know that you still want to believe in her… but I have to tell you, I don’t know how much longer I will be able to put up with her… especially if she tries something else to harm you.”

“But what if she doesn’t? What if this is the end of it?” I ask even though I know I’m only lying to myself to get out of this nasty situation.

“Do you really think she’ll happily stand to the side and see us together? See you succeeding in life?” Jiyong says all the things that I was already aware of. “You don’t understand, Dara… She’s been sabotaging everything from the very beginning. From the moment she saw you as a threat.”

Hearing enough, I pull my hand away from his. Not in anger but more as a way of getting away. I didn’t want to deal with this at all. I never liked cutting ties like this … they were always painful no matter the circumstance.

“It’s not that easy.” I say a little to harshly.

I guess I came across as angry because Jiyong didn’t say a word in response. Instead, he just sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“Alright, I’ll drop it.” He says as he turns and walks out of the kitchen. The sight of his receding back reminds me of that night when I slapped Sohee and watched Jiyong walk away and out of the dance studio. Although the situation was completely different, it still gave me the same feeling: the feeling that I didn’t want him to leave me.

Even now, Sohee is creating a rift between us.

Unlike that night, I chased after him and found myself hugging him from behind tightly. The warmth emanating from his back was so comforting and made me not want to spend a minute away.

“I’m sorry.” I say while hugging him tighter, “I didn’t mean to sound angry. I wasn’t angry at you but at the situation…” I pause as I wait for him to say something but he doesn’t.

“When it comes to family… things get a bit more difficult for me.” I gulp down my pride as I prepare to tell him the reason for my biggest weakness.

“My parents… left me when I was younger.” I close my eyes shut as the words spill out of me. It’s something that I have never said out loud in fear on how I may appear to others. But for some reason, I wanted to say it to Jiyong. I didn’t want sympathy or a chance to complain… I just wanted him to understand me.

“They… didn’t have enough money to raise me, keep me in school, or provide me with whatever a child needed when growing up.” I continue as scenes from my past play like a movie in my mind. “So… one day when I woke up… I see my uncle and aunt greeting me ‘good morning’ instead… and telling me that I will be staying with them just for a little while... And after a little while passed,” I take in a deep breath and feel the most vulnerable I’ve ever allowed myself to be. “I never saw my parents again.”

Silence took over but I kept my eyes tightly shut, not allowing any tears to escape. If it weren’t for the steady heartbeat I could hear through his back, I would’ve thought I was talking to air.

“I never understood how my parents, people who were supposed to love you unconditionally and stay with you forever, could cut ties with me so easily. No phone call, no letter, no note, and no explanation. They were just gone… as if all the years we’ve spent together were nothing. As if… they didn’t exist.”

My eyelids were weakening and I felt a few tears already escape from their cage and ran freely down my cheeks.

“Since then, I swore that I wouldn’t let it happen again. No matter what, family is supposed to stick together. No matter what, we are supposed to love each other unconditionally. No… matter what…” I couldn’t hold it in anymore as more and more tears came crashing out. I feel Jiyong’s hands grab my arm, making me loosen my grip. Swiftly, he turns his body within my embrace so that my head was now resting against his chest. I lean into him more as his arms wrap around me and his lips press to the top of my head.

“I don’t want to use this as an excuse but… that’s why… with Sohee… I don’t know what to do. I know what she did was wrong. She betrayed me and threw aside our relationship. She wanted to harm me, a person who loved her unconditionally… until now.” I cling onto the back of Jiyong’s shirt. “Why is it so easy for family to break apart?” My body finally lets go as I begin to bawl into his shirt and cling onto him for dear life.

“Shhh… it’s okay. It’s okay.” I hear Jiyong coo above my cries. He rubs his hand in circles on the small of my back. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

My body relaxes a little at his words and soothing touch but a few sniffles still escape me.

“Don’t worry, Dara.” He says calmly, “I’m sorry for pushing you with this.” He grabs my shoulders and pushes me away so we both had a clear view of each other’s faces. “We won’t talk about it anymore until you are ready. You have plenty of time. There’s no rush.”

He uses his fingers to wipe away the trail of tears on my cheeks before pulling me in again for a hug. After a few minutes in that position, my tears slow down to a stop and I begin to breath normally once again. Just as I was about to thank him for always being there for me, I hear him chuckle softly.

“What are you laughing about?” I pull away to look up at him. He studies my face while smiling tenderly at me.

“You stubborn girl,” He says in the utmost endearing way, “You never listen to a thing I say, do you?”

Confused by what he means, I tilt my head in response.

“I’ve told you a thousand times already, but because it’s you, I’ll say it again.” I nod several times, curious on what he was going to say.

He moves his hands up to cup my face, deepening the gaze we shared and making me feel as if we were the only ones that existed. With the same tender smile on his face, he cleared his throat.

“No matter what happens, I will always be there for you. And no matter what, I will be the one to love you unconditionally.”

I am woken up by the sunlight crashing through the floor-to-ceiling windows and push myself up from what seems to be the couch. A sudden blast of cold air hits me as the blanket that was covering me, slips off while I tried to get up. I sleepily look around the still jaw-droppingly-gorgeous apartment (It looked even better in the daytime!) but don’t spot the owner of it anywhere.

After stretching a bit, I retrace my thoughts in search of where I last put my bag. Upon finding it, the first thing I do is to check my phone.

Five new text messages?

I try to make a few guesses who it might be from before opening them one by one.

Dara. You are in BIG trouble. HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THE MV?! -___-

When you see this, I’m expecting a 10 page essay from you!!

Omo! Sulli! I mentally slap myself for forgetting to update her.

Ahhh! I’m so sorry Sulli *o*! I promise I’ll update you ASAP! Let’s meet up soon!

I send the text through before moving on to the next few that I see are from Youngbae.

Hey, just finished with recording my new songs. I’m feeling pretty awesome.

Did you eat yet?

I feel slightly guilty for not responding to him as timely as I used to.

Sorry! I didn’t see your texts until now! I ate dinner so don’t worry about me ^-^ v. Hope you had a good nights rest~!

After finishing up the text and sending it out, I finally reach the last text. My brows furrow when I see that the caller ID says it’s from YG sajangnim. Why would he be texting me? I check the time stamp and see that it was sent just a couple of minutes ago.

“Dara.” I suddenly hear Jiyong’s voice behind me. I turn around and see that he must have been taking a shower since his hair was still a bit damp.

“Oh, Jiyong. I was just checking my ma…” My smile slowly disappeared from my face as I noticed the troubled look he had on his face. “What’s wrong…?” I ask hesitantly.

“Did you… get a text from YG sajangnim?” Just from his question, I immediately felt a bit sick to the stomach with worry.

“Yes… how did you know?” My heart was beating crazily not knowing what was about to happen. Why would YG sajangnim text me… and how could Jiyong know?

“I got one too.” He states, “Just a few minutes ago… while I was in the shower.”

“W-What did it say?” I felt almost out of breath as the suspense was making it impossible to breathe.

“It said… ‘I need to see you. Both of you.’” His lips press into a thin line. There was no need for an explanation, for it was obvious who the ‘both of you’ referred to.

I turn my attention back to my phone as a million different types of scenarios raced through my mind. Maybe he’s just checking in on my training? Or he heard about the good news with the director at the MV shoot! Or he wants me to start my singing training and will have Jiyong help me. But all of these reassuring thoughts crashed and crumbled into a billion pieces once I saw the words on the screen. The text started off similarly, but ended in a way that made it clear what it is he wanted to talk to us about.

I need to see the both of you. What you two are doing must come to an end.

*BlueNote*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So here it is! Finally finished this chapter
Full of ups and downs
And some background on Dara's life!

Do you think Dara's reason for being torn about Sohee makes sense?
Who saw this ending coming?
Please let me know in the comments below!

Get ready for what happens next~
Gnight for now, but hopefully and update for tomorrow :)

Thank you to all the subscribers and commenters as usual!

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