DARA’S POV

I slowly fluttered my eyes open when I felt the rays of the sun, which peeked through the window, touched my cheeks. I blinked once and blinked again to shoo away the remnants of sleep clouding my fogged brain. And after a while, I focused my gaze throughout the entire room where I am staying.

And after a minute or so, I realized that I’m not in the same room as I was yesterday. This was not mine and Bommie’s hotel room. This room doesn’t seem like a hotel room for me.. Or maybe it is? I don’t know. I was still contemplating if this room is a hotel room or not when a panic suddenly surged through me.

THIS IS NOT MINE AND BOMMIE’S HOTEL ROOM. I bolted up immediately from the bed and searched for anything familiar throughout the room. And when I caught a glimpse of my backpack sitting quietly on one corner, everything that happened yesterday came rushing back to me.

How could I forget? Stupid me. How can I forget the fact that I and Jiyong are stuck in an island far away from where Bom and the rest are? How can I forget that I said “it was okay” to be stuck with him?

I don’t know what came to me that time. It’s just that, Jiyong’s voice was so sad, so hurt when he said those words to me that I even felt a pinch in my heart. And even before I realized what I was doing, I already stopped him from walking away from me and said it was okay.

And the way his said sorry last night made me want to break down the walls I’ve built around me and let him in. The way his voice sounded so sincere made me want to face him and hug him and tell him that it’s okay.

I slowly shook my head to stop where my train of thought is going. I shouldn’t even think of that now. I should stand firm on my point and keep those walls around me thick and strong.

I shoved the blanket aside and stepped down on the bed. I roamed my eyes around the room again and thought to myself how rich the Kwons are. I stayed in the master’s bedroom, because Jiyong insisted even if I wanted to take the guest room.

I slowly padded my way out of the room and glanced left and right to the huge hallway. I was acting like I am a thief but I don’t care.. I just don’t want bumping into Jiyong as early as this time because……… I just don’t feel like it.

When I was sure that the coast is clear, I tiptoed my way towards the stairs and made my way towards the kitchen. I was about to push the kitchen door open when my eyes caught something, rather someone. I quickly hid myself and peeked through the glass part of the door.

Jiyong has his back on me, probably busy with breakfast. He was scratching his scalp as he turned his head from left to right, maybe confused about all the kitchen stuff. He bent down and picked a pan and placed it above the stove, then he opened the stove and looked sideways to reach for the ready-made mix of pancake on a bowl.

After a minute, he scooped a spoonful of the mix and placed it on the pan, then she scooped again and placed it. I shook my head in disbelief. He is doing it in a wrong way. I clicked my tongue and opened the kitchen door noiselessly and stood just behind him.

I was tempting to shove him aside and help him cook the pancake but I stopped myself. I wanted to see him struggle with this. Or maybe because I just wanted to see him cook? I don’t know.. But I’ll choose the first choice because why the hell would I want to see him cook?

I was busy with my thoughts when Jiyong suddenly whimpered in pain. I hastily move my way towards him and in a flash, I was already in front of him, checking his right thumb, which probably got burned with all the struggling to cook. I inspected it closely and frowned seeing that it was starting to redden.

I grab his hands and dragged him towards the fridge, then I pulled out some ice cubes and wrapped it in a mini towel and pressed it on his burned thumb.

“Does it hurt?” I asked softly as I still inspected his thumb.

“No..” he simply replied. I looked up at him and gulped seeing that he was staring down at me with the same unreadable expression written on his face. I coughed a little and forced out a smile before letting go his thumb and turning my back on him.

“Uhmm… What are you trying to do?” I asked the most obvious thing, as if I haven’t been spying on him for the last 10 minutes.

“Cooking?”

“Have you ever cooked before?” I asked. Just wanting to know if he knows his way around kitchens. But by the looks of it, I think I already know the answer.

“Uhm.. No..”

“Then why are you trying to cook now? Are you that hungry?” I asked again, engaging him in a casual conversation because admit it, if we’re going to be stuck here in their rest house for how-many-days, I don’t want awkwardness lingering around.

“I was trying to cook for you. I noticed that you didn’t touch your food while we’re on the yatch so I thought you’ll be hungry right now..” he replied then smiled a little smile.

I was left speechless on my spot. My hands were frozen midway while getting the bowl of ready-made mix of pancake and my lips slightly parted to let out that inaudible gasp. Hearing those words from him made my heart started beating erratically inside my chest. And the butterflies on my stomach decided to make their appearance once more, making me all tingly inside.

I stole a glance at him and gasped softly when he was still staring at me, that soft smile still plastered on his face. And I think I felt my heart stopped beating for a second there.

I smiled at him in response before quickly looking away and reaching that bowl and started cooking new sets of pancake so we could have something to eat for breakfast. And even before I noticed it, a smile tugged at the corner of my lips when I was halfway through cooking. I don’t even know why I am smiling for no reason.

And after I a little while, Jiyong and I are sitting in front of each other in this huge dining table, with the perfectly cooked pancake courtesy of me, of course, in between us as well as silence. But even so with the silence, I can’t help but feel comfortable eating breakfast like this with Kwon Jiyong with me.

AUTHOR’S POV

“CHAERIN!!” Chaerin bolted her eyes open when she heard loud knocks on her hotel room. She rubbed her hands in her eyes as she hastily went her way towards the door to check who her intruder was this day.

But much to her surprise, as soon as she opened her door, Bom came barging in like an angered lion. The older girl scanned the room and when she found the younger girl cowering in fear on the corner near the door, she marched her way towards her.

“Where the hell is Dara, Chaerin?” Bom not-so kindly asked.

“Uhmmm.. I do—“

“Don’t you dare lie, Chaerin…” Bom muttered under her breath she squinted her eyes. Her teeth gritting in anger because of what she just heard from Seunghyun’s and Seungri’s conversation. “Where is Dara?!” she asked again..

“She’s in our rest house, unnie.. Dara unnie is safe there, I promise..” Chaerin said immediately, knowing full well that it is not best to lie to her Bommie unnie when she is not in a very good mood.

“Who’s she with? Tell me…” Bom asked once more as she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, making the younger girl to cower in fear some more. If Bom will find out that it’s only Dara and Jiyong is in that rest house, Chaerin was sure that the older girl standing in front of her will flip everything inside her room.

“She’s…..uhm…… She’s wi—“

“She’s with Jiyong, right?”

Chaerin’s mouth gaped open with what her Bommie unnie just asked her. How did she know? She panicky asked herself as she racked her brains on ways how to deny the truth. She was still racking her brain when Bom interrupter her thoughts.

“Don’t you dare deny it, Chaerin. I’ve overheard Seunghyun and Seungri’s conversation just a while ago..” Bom heaved a deep breath and slowly made her way towards the bed and slumped herself on it.

She was busy being worried over her sister, thinking that something bad had happened to her that’s why she wasn’t able to go back to their hotel room last night. She even reported to the police who roams around the beach that her sister is missing but they said that they don’t consider a person missing if it’s not 24 hours that he/she was gone.

Imagine her anger when she heard that. She have the every urge to hit that policeman in the head but she held herself because she doesn’t want to end up in jail.

And now, knowing that her sister is with that good-for-nothing son of a is not helping her to keep calm. She still hasn’t forgotten what that bastard had done to her sister, and she was sure that she’s never going to forget that in her lifetime. What he did to her was just unforgivable, very evil in every way.

Bom buried her face on her palms, her elbows resting on her thighs. She then let out a deep sigh and looked up to see Chaerin walking towards her with an apologetic expression plastered on her face.  Bom forced out a smiled and tapped the space beside her, which the younger girl took.

“Why did you do that, Chaerin?” Bom asked softly.

“I’m sorry, unnie.. I just wanted to help her and Jiyong oppa. I just wanted them to be friends.” Chaerin replied with a dejected voice. All she wanted to do is help, is that wrong?

“Do you think they’ll be friends after what your brother had done to Dara? Do you think Dara will ever find it in herself to forgive what Jiyong had done to her?” Bom asked, hoping that she’ll make Chaerin see how impossible it is for Jiyong and Dara to be friends.

“I know what oppa did was unforgivable.. But I just wanted them to be okay, unnie.. I just wanted them to be friends..” Chaerin softly lied, masking the hidden meaning why she wanted to do those things and made Jiyong and Dara closer.

Bom did not say anything. She stayed silent as she stared at nothing in particular, her thoughts wandering off to her sister who is stuck in an island with Kwon Jiyong. And after a while, Bom sighed deeply and turned towards Chaerin.

“I’ll let this pass for now, Chaerin. But after this, I won’t let you do silly things again to make them closer. I just don’t want to see Dara hurt again. She already went through a lot and I don’t want her to experience the same pain Jiyong had made her feel.” After that, Bom stood up from Chaerin’s bed and made her way outside the room, leaving Chaerin feeling so down.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Serendipity,” Dara read out loud what Jiyong had put across the scrabble board then she tilted  her head a little to right seeing that It earned him twenty-five points because of the bonus marks. And now, she was ten points short, Jiyong is leading.

It was such a lazy afternoon and Dara had nothing to do. She tried going out for a swim but the sun was up and about and she was scared that she might get roasted so she streaked that plan out of her list. She was almost at her wit’s end when she caught a sight of a board game sitting quietly in one corner on the master’s bedroom. She grabbed it joyfully and shyly asked Jiyong if he could join her. Jiyong said yes which made Dara very happy because the game they’re playing is about words- one of the things she’s good at.

Back to the game, Dara scratched her head as she racked her brain so she could come up with a word that will beat Jiyong to a pulp. She glanced at the board then at her collections of letters, if she wants to win this round, she needs to take that remaining triple word score located at the bottom of the board.

Jiyong smirked at her sight of her and released a small chuckle seeing her so frustrated because she can’t come up with a word that will make her win. He was slowly savoring the taste of victory when Dara suddenly beamed brightly at him and placed down the letters on the board.

Jiyong looked at what she placed on the board and shook his head in disbelief.

“Hazy,” Jiyong read out loud. The word itself gains her nineteen points, but since she got that triple word score, her score for the word all in all is 57 points, making her the victorious one and him the sore loser.

“I can’t believe I lost,” Jiyong muttered under his breath..

“Of course I’ll beat you, I’m a nerd after all!” Dara said proudly but then stopped when she realized what she just said. The smile on her face turned upside down as she took a measured glance at Jiyong’s direction.

He froze on his spot hearing what she just said, the smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a frown. The guilt that he was feeling last time came rushing back to him like a tidal wave, hitting him so hard that it almost knock his senses. He placed down the letters on the coffee table and smiled apologetically at her.

“Uhm…. It’s almost dinner. I’ll look for something to cook,” he simply said before turning his back on her and padding his way towards the kitchen.

Dara wanted to smack her head for blurting things like that. Their day had been great, they were enjoying each other’s company and the awkwardness between them was long gone. But then she ruined it by saying that one word, only one word.

She doesn’t know if she’s ready to forgive him yet, but she’s not angry at him anymore. The anger she felt for him was long gone now and she was slowly forgetting, really forgetting this time, what had happened in the past. And if ever the time comes that she’s really ready to forgive him, she wanted him to be her friend.

Without much further thinking, she stood up from where she was sitting and made her way towards the kitchen. The smile on her face a while ago slowly crept their way back to her lips again seeing Jiyong just staring at the pans, as if he doesn’t know where to start.

She walked towards him and stood in front of him, then she smiled her bright smile and held up one pan. “Need help?” she asked.

Jiyong looked at Dara and searched for something in her eyes. He was looking if there’s a hint of pain in her eyes because he was sure that ‘that’ word must have reminded her of the past. But when he saw not an ounce of pain in her eyes, he smiled back at her.

Jiyong nodded his head and scratched his scalp, thinking that if Dara wasn’t there with him, he’ll be starved to death.

And soon after, both Dara and Jiyong worked their way around the kitchen….preparing the dinner they very much deserved.

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A LONG UPDATE AL LAST!!

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