Chapter 64

~*Two Weeks Later*~

“Good morning!” I greeted cheerfully while entering the recording studio.

“Woah! Someone’s in a good mood…” Teddy looked at me expectantly while leaning back in his chair, “I’m guessing you and Jiyong made up?”

“Yeah…” I laughed while putting my bag down on the couch at the back of the room, “Is it that obvious?”

“Compared to the mood you were in last night? Anyone would’ve guessed.” Teddy made a face that I could only guess was an imitation of what I must have looked like after Jiyong and I had our fight. “You two are crazy. What would you guys do without me?”

I took my usual seat next to him and leaned against the counter, “Thanks for the advice, Teddy oppa.”

“No worries. Anytime.” He winked at me before turning back to the computer screen. “Let me just finish this up and I’ll show you what I’ve got for you next.”

I nod enthusiastically before letting my mind drift off to its usual place: thinking about Jiyong. It’s been two weeks since Jiyong had left and quite honestly, they were not easy. The first week was absolutely horrible for the two of us because without fail, we’d always miss each other’s calls. This lasted for about four days without being able to hear each other ‘s voice until finally, Jiyong got a hold of me through Teddy and resulted in our first fight. Of course, we made up that same night and tried to go about our days normally, until Jiyong found out that I went out late with the girls for some drinks that lead to our second, third, and fourth fight. Last night, was probably… well, I’ve already lost count, but we got into a fight once again just because we both felt like the other didn’t make enough effort to call. But in the end, like all the rest of the fights, we made up and understood each other that much better.

“Alright, here’s what I have for you to work on today.” Teddy’s voice brought me back while wiggling a piece of paper in front of my face. I took it excitedly and scanned my eyes over the words that I, at first, couldn’t read until I realized it wasn’t in Korean.

“An English song?” I asked and looked at Teddy for confirmation.

“Yep. It’s a really famous song back in America.” He taps his finger at the top of the page where the title was, “’Officially Missing You’ by Tamia. I think it’s the perfect song to fit your voice and style. You know some English right?”

I looked back down at the long words and letters that suddenly seemed intimidating, but I nodded. “Just a bit… my pronunciation isn’t perfect though.”

“That’s fine, it’s just practice anyways. I’m positive this type of song would really suit you. So let’s just have fun with it.” He said while pushing and turning a few knobs and buttons on the console. “Here, I’ll play you the original so you can listen and get a feel of it. Then I had the guitar version of it recorded, so we can use that later.”

The song began to play throughout the studio and almost instantly I recognized it. It was indeed a song that I’ve heard once or twice before and just never knew the artist or title… but the last time I heard it was in the car with Jiyong when we were heading to the beach. It was one of the songs that he had put in that playlist for me to listen to. I glanced at Teddy skeptically to see if he might have did it on purpose or was somehow tipped off by this songs connection to Jiyong, but he just slowly bobbed his head to the music while closing his eyes, completely unaware. I guess I’m inevitably going to think about Jiyong all the time.

When the original song came to an end, Teddy then played for me the guitar version he had specially recorded for me to practice with. He showed me which parts to pay attention to, which notes to hold, when’s the best to pause and take a breath. Just like our usual lessons, he had me sing the chorus a couple of times without the music, then moved onto the first verse, second verse, then the bridge, and finally the whole song together with music. While going through the song, I was surprised at how I somehow ended up sounding more fluent in English than usual. I had occasional slips, which Teddy helped me fix, but overall it was pretty decent.

 

♪ All I hear is raindrops

And I’m officially missing… you ♫

 

“Nice, Dara. I knew this was a good one for you.” Teddy said proudly, “Now… let’s record it.”

“Eh?” I responded as all my confidence washed away at the mere thought of it.

“Yep.” He rolled his chair over to behind the stereo system and pulled out a tripod that was attached to a camera. “I was thinking that sometimes the best way to learn and improve, is to see it for yourself. I could just sit here all day and tell you what to do and not to do. You might learn fine like that, but also by watching yourself, you’ll notice your own flaws and strengths.”

I watched as he sets the camera so that it was facing me with the console and stereos as the background. His theory made sense of course, but it didn’t stop me from being nervous. I’d seen myself dance and act on camera but this will be my first time seeing myself sing, which I was least confident in.

“Looks good…” Teddy mumbled while looking at the screen of the camera, “Now just relax and pretend like the camera isn’t even there. I’ll start recording in 3… 2… and 1.”

Just a few seconds after he started the recording, the guitar version of ‘Officially Missing You’ came on and filled the room. As I listened to the first opening chords, it helped my mind relax and prep myself for the first verse. But at the same time, as I was thinking about the lyrics, it made me realize that I suddenly wanted to see Jiyong more than anything.

 

 

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

I zoned out while fiddling with the red bracelet around my wrist as the stylist was brushing gel through my hair. My thoughts were filled about what Dara should be doing right now. I remember her mentioning that she’d be training all day again today, but I couldn’t help but worry if she was eating all her meals and resting.

As soon as both of us were separated, we both had the same tactic to busy ourselves with work and distract us from missing each other… but then, that was also the cause for most of our fights.

“Jiyong, could you look this way please.” My make-up artist directed my head to look down more as she drew on eyeliner.

“How many more sets do I have, noona?” I asked her, hoping that I could get out of this soon and call Dara.

“I think the photographer said five more? Why?” She asked giving me a curious glance before returning to work on my eyelids.

I silently cursed myself and brushed off her question. Although I was in Japan for promotional work for my album, YG also seemed to make sure to fill up my schedule with loads of photo shoots and advertisements to keep me busy. Usually, I’d at least have a say in it, but there was no room for opinions this time... it was rather strange.

 

“Jiyong! You have a visitor!” My manager called out from the door of the dressing room. My eyes moved towards his direction and spot a familiar face as she makes her way towards me.

“Jiyong!” Kiko called out happily and stopped by my side, her hand resting on my shoulder, “Looking great as usual. What brand of eyeliner do you use?”

“Very funny.” I say with a smirk and give my make-up artist a warning glance to not gang up on me with her, “Nice to see you too, Kiko. What are you doing here?”

“Didn’t you know?” She asked with a tilt of her head and sat down in the empty chair next to me, “I was the one who arranged this little photo shoot of yours.”

My brow raises, “You?”

She nods while inspecting her fingernails, “YG didn’t tell you? He was the one who asked me if there was anyone who’d want you to model for them.”

“He didn’t tell me.” I answered slightly bothered by that fact. “I guess he just didn’t find it important.”

Kiko looked up at me from her nails with skepticism, “Or… he’s got something up his sleeve.”

I didn’t reply but knew fully well what Kiko was implying. She never did have a good impression of YG, after all, he’s a businessman who makes the ‘tough decisions’ if it turns out to be the best for the company overall… and sometimes disregarding others completely.

“Has this got anything to do with this Park Sandara I’ve been hearing about?” Kiko asked with a curious smile. She leaned over the armrest of the chair towards me, “What’ve you been up to, Jiyong?”

The idea of YG planning something with Dara involved bugged me to no end, but it wasn’t impossible. Whatever it is, it’s best to just leave Dara out of it all together.

“Since when did you pay attention to Korean gossip? I thought you said it was always exaggerated and ‘PG-13’?” I ask to try to avoid her question.

“I did. But I never said it didn’t have a ring of truth to it.” She leaned back against the chair and crossed her legs, “After all, it did say we were dating once.”

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and smirked, “What about any of that is true?”

She gasps obnoxiously and brings both hands to , “How dare you Jiyong. How could you forget the seven seconds of heaven we shared in that closet that one fateful night!” She threw her head back in ‘despair’.

I glared at her when I hear my make-up stylist try to stifle her laughter, “Stop spreading rumors. Both you and I know that nothing happened in there.

She regained her cool composure with a smile, “Yeah, because you chickened out. My body was practically ready for you.”

The make-up artist’s hand slipped causing her to draw an extra line of black eyeliner down my cheek.

“Aish… look at you what you did, Kiko. Stop distracting her with your god awful lies.” I inspected my face in the mirror while she just laughed.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” She held her stomach and kept laughing, “Tell you what, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight. We can catch up and you can tell me all about this Sandara girl.”

I turned my cheek as the make-up artist tried to fix up the extra line, “What about that guy you were dating?”

“Brian? If you want an update, you’ll get it over dinner. Deal?” She said giving no room for discussion like she always did.

“As persistent as always.” I sigh in disbelief, “Some things never change.”

Kiko stands up and adjusts her purse strap on her shoulder, “I’ll be back after your shoot. Good luck. Oh… and try to look decent.” She teased before walking out of the dressing room.

 

“She’s quite a girl… Kiko Mizuhara. Interesting personality and yet beautiful…” My make-up artist commented while putting the last finishing touches, “You two seem like close friends.”

I stood up while checking my full outfit and make-up in the mirror, “Yeah, I guess you could say we get along pretty well.” I replied, not really putting much thought into it as my mind was distracted.

“I bet a lot of guys envy you for being friends with such a popular model.” She said while putting away her tools and make-up.

I shrug before heading out the room and all I could think about was how Kiko was beautiful and a very successful model…. but she had nothing on my baby girl.

 

 

~*Dara’s POV*~

My eyes stayed glued to the screen as I watched myself smile shyly at the camera while singing. I never knew I could produce such a soothing sound out of my scrawny body. Teddy was right, my talent and flaws are much clearer on camera. Although my voice, pitch, and holds were spot on, there were moments where I didn’t open my mouth enough or raised my chin when trying to reach higher notes. By the end of the video, I had learned so much more about myself and realized I that I may not be the best singer, but like YG had said before, there was something there that could be worked with.

“So?” Teddy turned to me with an expectant smile, “What did you think?”

“I…” I began, trying to find the right words, “It was great. It’s so weird to hear and watch myself sing…”

“Isn’t it?” Teddy smirked before turning back to the video, “But also, I think you did a lot better on camera than off. It’s probably the best I’ve ever heard you.”

I blushed at his compliment and bowed my head, “Thank you… it’s because of your help, Teddy oppa.” I was beyond grateful to him… if it wasn’t for him, I never would’ve believed that I actually had even just a bit of talent in singing.

“Don’t mention it. Now, I guess I’ll delete this…” Teddy said while pressing buttons on the video camera.

“Ah wait!” I suddenly blurted out. Teddy jumped at my suddenness. “Actually… could you do me one more favor?”

---

 

“See you tomorrow!” I call out while leaving the recording studio, happily and practically skipping down the hall towards the dance studios. Excitement was bubbling up inside of me the more I thought about Jiyong, but I tried to contain it. Although the day had only just started, it already felt like one of the best days I’ve had since Jiyong left.

“Hello everyone!” I chimed while entering the main dance studio and bowing. All the dancers were there, including Jae Wook and surprisingly, Youngbae.

“Unnie!” Minzy called out happily, with CL and Bom trailing behind her, “Are you practicing with us today again?”

“If that’s okay with Jae Wook oppa?” I look towards him who gave me a warm smile back.

“Even if I said no, you’d just practice anyways in the corner and distract everyone.” He teased then motioned towards Youngbae, “We’re working on new choreography for Youngbae’s new song, so you can be his partner.”

“What? I have to work with her AGAIN? I’m an idol now, I don’t have time to work with trainees.” Youngbae feigned a groan and shook his head.

I gaped at his playful attitude and lightly slapped his arm. Although we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other for a while, it was as if things never changed.

“Just watch, I’m going to wipe the floor with you at the end of this. I’m not someone you can take lightly.”

The rest of the room snickered and began taking bets as we moved to our positions. Youngbae gave me a challenging smirk; reminding me of the first time he mocked me at the auditions.

“Well let’s see what you got, trainee.”

---

 

“And… we’re done!” Jae Wook calls out and everyone joins in applauding our hard work while trying to catch our breaths. Both Youngbae and I were bent over; sweat dripping from our faces and breathing hard. It’s been a while since I danced six hours straight, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.

“You two worked hard today,” Jae approached the two of us from behind, placing a hand on each of our shoulders. “It’s been a while seeing so much energy from you two.”

“Well…” Youngbae starts taking in another deep breath, “A little competition now and then is healthy, right Dara?”

“Sure,” I roll my eyes but with a smile, “Whatever you say.” I stand up and place my hands on my hips letting air completely fill my lungs. “So who won today, Youngbae or me?”

Jae Wook simply laughed and shook his head, refusing to get into our childish games before leaving the studio.

“It was definitely Dara noona by far.” Seungri chimed out, but was quickly elbowed by Youngbae, hard.

“Yah, don’t make me put you in the back for the MV.” Youngbae warned the maknae as everyone chuckled at Seungri’s disdain reaction.

“Now, now Youngbae-sshi. Don’t bully the maknae for speaking the truth.” I cross my arms with my chin held up in the air. I see the fire in Youngbae’s eyes again, and before he can come up with a comeback, I turn my attention to the others.

“There’s going to be another MV shoot? What’s the theme this time?” I ask excitedly, remembering how excited everyone last time when a MV shooting was involved.

“It’s for Youngbae’s song ‘Wedding Dress’!” Minzy says with sparkles in her eyes, “Have you heard it yet, Unnie? It’s so romantic!”

I shake my head and look over at Youngbae whose expression is unreadable… but definitely not playful like it was before. I only noticed it for a second before redirecting my attention to Minzy gushing over the plot for the video.

“It’s going to be a storyline this time, with Youngbae oppa as a man caught in a love triangle with his best friend and the girl he loves!” Minzy says with a dreamy sigh. “The evil main actress, of course, breaks Oppa’s heart and gets married to his best friend instea…” But Minzy’s trails off as the tension in the air becomes more and more noticeable. After all, two parts of that very relatable triangle were standing next to each other… the third was safe in Japan and away from the awkwardness.

My eyes flick from Minzy’s panicked ones to everyone else’s and finally landing on Youngbae who was giving me a wary look. That’s right… this realistic scenario had happened to us just two weeks ago… and I hadn’t talked or really spent time with Youngbae since.

Quick! Do something!

“Wow!” I call out and act oblivious to the situation, “That sounds so cool!” I try to put on a smile as everyone gives me surprised or confused looks, “I can already imagine it… Taeyang standing in the middle of a dark room… as the lights focus on him… then BAM!”

I strike a wide stance, my head tilted upwards, eyes closed, with one hand out and pushing away from me, and the other pinching the bridge of my nose in ‘despair’. I let my ridiculous pose sink in for everyone before looking around dramatically into the air in ‘loss’. I can feel all of their eyes on me, but push pass the awkwardness and take dramatic steps before I start ‘dancing’.

I start mimicking Youngbae’s signature dance moves that he always did to show off, but added my own little weird twists here and there, exaggerating the moves, and making sure to put pauses of me being ‘hurt’. Finally, after flailing around a bit more, I take my ending pose and slide onto both knees to the ground dramatically, with my arms open wide.

“That’s…” I pant, surprised at how much effort I put into that, “That’s how it’s going to be… right?” I stare at their wide-eyed and open-mouthed faces as time freezes. Until, I hear a ‘pfft’.

 

“PUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA.” Seungri is the first to crack up, until finally everyone has erupted into a fit of laughter, even Youngbae. I smile in relief and stand up knowing that my plan has worked.

“You…” CL managed to say between laughs, “You are… so… weird!”

“What was that?!” Bom wipes the tears forming at the corner of her eyes and slaps me hard on the arm a couple of times. Minzy doesn’t even try to speak as she holds her stomach from laughing so hard.

I stick out my tongue and shrug, “That’s just how I see it!” I try to say in a serious tone but am glad that I have successfully driven away the tension. My eyes scan by the laughing and happy faces until I see Youngbae who is the first to calm down. With a wide grin, his eyes were smiling at me as well… with gratefulness and a tinge of something else that makes me blush.

“So now I know to come find you for acting advice, Dara noona.” TOP says with a goofy grin. Just when you were about to retort, the door of the studio opens.

 

“What’s going on in here?” All of us turn towards the door to find YG sajangnim looking at all of us curiously. “Have you all gone crazy?”

We all bow and say our greetings before CL speaks up, “We just finished practice and about to eat dinner.”

“Ah, is that so…?” He nods and I watch his eyes fall on me, “Dara, were you planning on eating with everyone as well?”

I pause to come up with my answer to his ‘question’. But something about the way he phrased it, made me feel like there was only one right answer, “No, sajangnim…”

“Good, there’s something I need to discuss with you, so when you’re ready please meet me in my office.” He says with a smile before turning to Youngbae.

“I listened to your songs. There’s still work to be done on one of them. I’ve already told Teddy what needs to be changed, so see him immediately.” He states before nodding to all of us and leaving the room.

A few seconds after he left, I turn to Youngbae with a worried expression, “Have you eaten dinner yet? Will you be able to eat if you’re going straight to Teddy?”

Youngbae gathered his things in a hurry before shrugging, “I’ll be fine. I’m sure Teddy and I will figure something out.” He gives me a reassuring smile, “Worry about yourself, I’m not the only one being dragged away from dinner.”

He nods a goodbye to the rest before patting me on the shoulder, “Make sure you eat when you’re done with YG. I’m sure Ji would be upset to hear your skipping meals again.”

I flush and give him a confused look, “How did you know I was skipping meals?”

“I’m just cool like that.” He says with a shrug. “See you.”

The room chimes with good-byes to Youngbae before he was gone and the rest of the group was making their way out as well.

“Do you want us to wait for you, noona?” Daesung asked.

“No, don’t worry.” I give them all a grateful smile, “It seems like it might take a while with sajangnim.”

“But you have to eat right after okay?” CL chimed in with her arms crossed, “Youngbae’s not the only one who’s looking out for you.”

A mixture of warmth and guilt fills my heart as I smile and nod. I am so blessed to have such talented people around me to care for. I watched them slowly leave and bid them goodbye before gathering my own things.

“Unnie,” I turn to see that CL hasn’t left yet and her expression looked somewhat worried. “Let me know if you need anyone to talk to, okay?

“About what?” I ask puzzled, “You mean my talk with sajangnim?”

She nodded firmly and sighed, “He seemed a little off earlier… so just keep an open mind about what he might say…”

Hearing her words made my heart quicken it’s pace. Worried and paranoid thoughts began to flood my mind as I tried to figure out what he could possibly want to speak with me about.

“How do you mean he seemed a little off?” I ask, as if knowing that might calm my mind. I watch her frown and bite her bottom lip before speaking.

“Whenever I’ve seen him like this…” She paused as if trying to find the right words, “it usually means he’s up to something… and most likely isn’t something good.”

---

 

“Come in.” I jump a little at YG’s voice but proceed to open the door to his office. He looks up from his desk and gives me a little smile before beckoning me over. I tried to return a normal smile to him, but I couldn’t help but be nervous, especially after what CL had told me.

“How has training been going for you?” He asked, his attention was back down to the paperwork sprawled all over his desk.

“Very good. Working with Teddy has especially helped a lot as I feel more comfortable with singing.” I continue and watch him occasionally nod to what I was saying. But sometimes I wasn’t even sure if he was really listening.

“That’s good to hear.” YG says when I finish and looks up at me with another smile. Seeing that same fatherly smile he’s been giving me since I’ve been here made me feel guilty for being even slightly skeptical of him. I watch him fold his hands in front of him before clearing his throat to speak.

“So I’m sure you must know that I didn’t call you in here just to get an update for you.” He paused, but not long enough for me to be able to reply, “I have an opportunity that you may see beneficial for your future.”

He then left another pause but this time looked up at me, “As you know, the backlash from a few weeks ago on both you and Jiyong hasn’t died down much... Sending Jiyong in Japan, as we both expected, has helped a little… but not enough for him to be able to come back.”

I could see that he was still talking, his mouth was moving and everything, but for some reason I couldn’t hear anything… all I could hear was what he had previously said… and what was starting to become clear to me after two weeks.

“Sending Jiyong… as we BOTH expected… not enough for him… to come back”

That… was the reason he left for Japan?

 

“I thought… he had left for promotional work?” I suddenly blurted out and immediately regretted it once I felt YG’s piercing gaze on me. For a few seconds, he studied me carefully, long enough to make me believe Jiyong and I’s feelings had been found out. But eventually, that friendly smile came back.

“Well, as an idol, there is always promotional work to be done. However, usually, G-Dragon does well naturally in Japan without promoting… but given the situation, it had seemed like the best way to go about the situation.” He said simply.

I thought back to when Jiyong had told me he was leaving, what he had said, how odd and sudden it was… Why didn’t he tell me? All the high points of today, just crashed to the floor in an instant, making me feel beyond useless.

“And that is where you come in,” YG’s voice cuts through my thoughts, “earlier today I got a request for a detailed interview with you.” He leans back in his office chair and crosses his arms. “Usually, I never release information or allow such intimate interviews with YG trainees, but this time I believe it might help both you and Jiyong.”

I watch and listen to him intently although I can hear Jiyong’s warning repeating in my head.

‘Don’t try to do any damage control’

 

“The public right now has only heard words from other people about you. They haven’t heard from you personally and hardly know anything about you. All they see is a pretty face around their favorite idols.” YG said bluntly, which admittedly stung a little, “The best way to fight fire is with fire, and that I believe is this interview.”

“But I haven’t been taught or trained what to say to the public.” I sputter in a bit of a panic as my words get caught in my throat. “How do I know if I’ve said too much or too little or nothing at all? What if I do more damage than good?”

YG stands up from his chair and makes his way towards me slowly, “Don’t worry, Dara. We won’t send you in there without preparing you first. These types of interviews are standard and easy to predict. Plus, we have our ways with choosing what is published and what isn’t.”

Although his words were meant to comfort me, it caused me to panic even more. War was happening in my head as I tried to figure out what was the best option. Go against my promise to Jiyong and clear both of our names or keep quiet, sit back, and let things fall where they may. But as I kept thinking of my choices, another realization comes to mind.

“Do I have a choice?” I ask, not meaning to come off as rude or incompliant… But I already anticipated his answer. He placed a firm hand on my shoulder. It failed to give me any comfort, but instead resembled the weight I had now as person subject to the public eye.

 

“If you want to help yours and Jiyong’s career… then I’m afraid not.”

---

 

Before I knew it, I looked up to see that I have arrived at my apartment. I wearily thank the driver of the company car and slid myself out. For some reason, my body had felt completely drained… and I knew it wasn’t from the six hours of dancing earlier today.

With dragging feet, I make my way into the apartment complex and up to my front door where I immediately spot the familiar sight that’s never failed to appear since the night Jiyong left. I pull the red rose and note from off the door and open it to read:

 

My angel,

With you in my life, I am the happiest. Never leave me.

 

I roll my eyes but smile a little at the corniest one I’ve read yet while fishing out my keys. Making my way into the apartment, I place the single rose in with the others in the vase and set the card on top of the rest of them. Staring at the stand, the vase that held one single rose two weeks ago was now almost full, with a few roses already wilted. The cards have stacked up quite noticeably as well.

“I have to tell him to stop sending me these…” I said to myself with a sigh. Although it was sweet of him to be doing this for me without mentioning it, it wasn’t what I need. I just needed him.

At that thought, my mind was distracted and went back to my conversation with YG sajangnim. No wonder CL had warned me earlier… it had definitely troubled me much more than I thought it would’ve. The more I thought about the situation and the interview, the clearer my answer became. In the end, Jiyong had gone off and made the decision to protect both of us on his own… leaving me here doing what… training, preparing, and working for something that ultimately depended on my boyfriend while jeopardizing his own work as well?

How am I supposed to continue with that hanging over my head?

While staring at the vase full of roses before me, I made my own decision to protect the both of us as well.

 

 

 

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

I open the door and stare tiredly into my empty and dark apartment. Although dinner with Kiko was enjoyable, it took a great deal out of me to avoid talking about Dara at all. Kiko, being the head strong girl she always is, kept pestering for answers to feed her curious mind, but being in the situation Dara and I were already in, I just wanted to keep her hidden from everyone, even my closest friends.

I dragged myself through the apartment like a lost soul, not exactly sure what I wanted to do besides flying back to Korea immediately. Despite being busy and having a full schedule to occupy my mind, Dara always find away to plant herself there and be related to almost everything I did here. I loved thinking about her… but it was getting to the point of it being painful knowing that she wasn’t here by my side.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and read that it was already past midnight, much earlier than when I’ve been usually finishing work for the day since being in Japan.

I wonder if she’s still awake…?

 

But as I take out my phone to call, a notification appears saying that I’ve received an email from Teddy. Reading the subject of the email intrigued me enough to get to my laptop.

In seconds, I pull up Teddy’s email and immediately notice a video file attached to it titled ‘DARA’:

 

From: Teddy Park

Subject: You lucky bast*rd…

Attached file DARA.wmv

 

She asked me to send this to you. Don’t die of happiness and just come back already.

 

 

I smirk at his message, but quickly download and open the video, unsure of what to expect. Soon, a window appeared and the video began to load. The screen started off black before finally showing the one girl I’ve dying to see since the moment I left her… and her beauty took my breath away.

The first thing I noticed was how she had lost weight, making me frown… but that went away as soon as I saw her smile shyly at the camera before music began to play.

[[A/N: Open the link in a new window for music!! Music On. This is NOT Dara of course, but please bare with me and imagine that it is ^^]]

 

My heart raced with excitement as I began to piece together what this video was really about, but before I could prepare myself on what to expect, the sweet, smooth voice I’ve been yearning to hear filled my ears. My heart filled up to the brim.

 

♪ All I hear is raindrops

Falling on the rooftop

Oh baby tell me why’d you have to go

Cause this pain I feel it won’t go away

And today I’m officially missing you ♫

 

The tiredness I was feeling earlier had completely washed away and I was more awake than ever before. My eyes were glued to Dara in the video as she swayed from side to side while singing. The sparkle in her eyes, the curve of her smile, the sweetness of her voice… they all blew me away.

 

♪ Well I wish that you would call me right now

So that I could get through to you somehow

But I guess it’s safe to say baby

It’s safe to say

That I’m officially missing you ♫

 

As I watch the way she looks at the camera, with the tinge of blush creeping on her cheeks, I can’t help but feel ecstatic at the thought of it being me she’s directing this too. I lean my head on my hands and let myself get lost in her beauty and her voice. It made me miss her that much more.

 

♪ Oh, can’t nobody do it like you

Said every little thing you do

Oh, it stays on my mind

And I, I’m officially missing you ♫

 

I continue to stare at the screen with a small smile on my face as the song comes to an end. She holds the last note effortlessly and ends with another shy but proud smile before making a heart shape with her hands to the camera. I chuckle at her cute gesture before the video ends and freezes on the frame of her smiling. For a good few minutes, I allow myself to sit and stare completely impressed and amazed by how far she had come. As always, when it comes to Dara, she never fails to surprise me.

With another click, the video begins to play again from the beginning and I watch her fidget in her seat awkwardly again before dialing her number on my phone. My eyes are still watching the screen as her voice mixes with the dreaded dial tone I’ve grown to hate over the past two weeks. As the ringing continues, a part of me begins to believe I won’t get a hold of her again tonight… until I hear a ‘click’.

 

“Hello?! Jiyong-ah?” Her excited voice through the phone welcomed my ears.

“Hi baby.” I say through a wide smile.

“Omo! It must be a miracle, I actually picked up your call!” She exclaimed making me laugh at her enthusiasm.

“Guess what I’m watching right now?”

There was a bit of a pause before she answered wearily, “What…?”

“Your video.”

“EHH! Why are you calling me if you’re watching it?!” Her voice squeaks from panic, “I’m hanging up! Call me when you aren’t watching it!”

“No way. If you hang up, I’m never calling you back.” I and purposely turn the volume up higher on my computer.

“AIGO! JIYONG! It’s so embarrassing!! Stop!” She whines and I can hear her pout through the phone.

“Why? It’s not embarrassing. It’s really good.” I tell her honestly and eventually pause the video to listen to her properly, “I’m really happy you sent it to me.”

“Well…” She trails off as if contemplating whether to still be mad at me or not, “you kept bugging me about not hearing me sing… so…” But she doesn’t continue.

“Arrasso… I won’t bother you about it anymore if you really don’t like me hearing it.”

There is another long pause before she finally speaks again, but very softly this time.

“I mean… if you really liked it… I guess… it’s okay…”

My smile grew even wider on my face as I cover my face with my hand from how silly she is.

 

“Great. Then I expect a video after every session you have with Teddy. I’ll tell him to make sure to record you each time and send it to me.” I say as seriously as I can.

“EHH?! Absolutely not!” Her squeaky voice comes back with a vengeance, “Why do you need a video? We’ll just do voice recording and send you that!”

“No. I need to have the video so I can watch you.”

“That’s just creepy, you ert.” She mumbles and trails off at the end but I still managed to hear it.

“What? What did you say?!”

“Nothing.” I hear her trying to hide her giggles.

“It wasn’t ‘nothing’. Say it again.”

 

“I love you…” She suddenly says distracting me and making my heart jump with joy at her words. But just as I was about to return those three words, she finishes her sentence, “ert.”

I sigh deeply and bury my head into my hand, “You really know how to ruin the moment, don’t you?”

 

“I’m sorry,” Her cute laugh resonates through the phone making my smile return instantly. “But aren’t you going to say it back?”

“Hmm?”

“I said ‘I love you’, you’re not going to say it back to me?”

“You want this ‘ert’ to say ‘I love you’ to you?” I question her logic and shake my head. “You’re a strange one.”

“I still love you even if you are a ert at heart.” She says in a sing-song voice. Is this her trying to be romantic?

 

I am at a loss of words as I look back at the screen at where I paused the video. Her smiling face welcomes me, but is wide open since I paused the video mid-singing. At this angle, and the way her head was tilted made me laugh a little at how strange she looked.

 

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m still waiting you know…” She trails off, disappointment clearly growing in her voice.

I smirk and use my index finger to poke her forehead in the video, as if she was right here beside me.

 

“I love you too… you pabo.”

*BlueNote*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I apologize to you guys for making you wait so long with this update!
But here it finally is!
So... to explain for my absence... school has started
so has work
and all of my other club duties :( so I had a hard time managing everything...

I'm terribly sorry for the wait
And I hope this chapter at least some what makes up for it

To be honest, for a long time I was really unhappy with this story
That it wasn't good enough...
especially when I have other stories planned that I think will be better
So I'm sorry about that as well... :(

And for those of you who were dreading Kiko's appearance
DON'T WORRY
 Let me just say, don't jump to conclusions just yet!
People are not always as they seem~

Anyways, thankyou for being so patient with me
And understanding

I still would really love some comments, support, feedback even.
It really means a lot to me
and motivates me a lot ><

Thank you and until the next update~