Now that I’m left lying here alone in his room, my behavior startled me. It all came down on me. Aish! Stupid! My mind screamed at me, my hand slapped my forehead. How can I behave that way? I actually did the first move! I initiated it! I seduced him, kind of, I think. Ugh! Ghad! That was the pest for crying out loud!

 

I scowled. I should stop denying it. And I should be satisfied, right? I finally proved one thing: I’m PHYSICALLY AWARE of him. Yes, that’s the best I could come up to describe why I’m feeling this way, why I behaved that way a while ago. So I guess that’s one question answered, that’s proof right there. My body is a traitor! I shouldn’t have let myself behaved that way. I totally acted on impulse. Ugh! Now what would the pest think of me? I groaned. I can’t even believe I’m capable of responding that way. I mean, I’ve been eternally pulling back when I get too intimate with someone.

 

It’s confirmed then. The pest had some weird effects on me, only physically, though. My heart. . . no, my heart belongs to Wooyoung oppa. I suddenly cringed as I remembered oppa. Remembering him made me feel a hell lot guilty, bad and I mean really bad. I closed my eyes. I’m a very bad girlfriend. I’m being unfaithful to him giving in to my body’s needs. Ugh! I hate myself.

 

A longing suddenly filled my heart. I missed him bad. It felt centuries ago since the last time I talked to him, much more saw him. I missed his gentleness, sweetness and his sometimes aggressiveness. My hands flew to my neck and realized I’m not wearing the necklace he gave me. Dang it! I’m really an awful girlfriend! If ever I get out of this alive, I promise I’ll make it up to him. Maybe, it’s a good thing Seohyun arrived before something MORE happened. What I did and what happened a while ago was a mistake. Probably the BIGGEST MISTAKE in my life.

 

I crawled out of bed and quickly ran to my room. From now on, I shouldn’t get too close with the pest, shouldn’t let my guards down, and shouldn’t let my body betray me again. And above all, avoid staring at his eyes too long because my body might betray me again, I might throw myself in his arms too willingly again.

 

Ugh! How can he have this power on me? I hate it! It’s totally unfair! I don’t know if I should be happy now that I finally know I’m PHYSICALLY AWARE of him. But I know that I should fight that awareness. I went to my room, put on clothes then proceeded to get the necklace and put it back around my neck.

 

I heard a knock. I froze. I think I know who that is. Ugh! I just hate how aware I am of him. But of course, I have no choice. So I went to get the door. His face was anxious as he looked over me. “How are you feeling? Are-”

 

“I’m fine!” I snapped.

 

I saw his eyes narrowed. “Seohyun bought cards for past time. Do you want to join while waiting for dinner?”

 

“No,” I bluntly said. I waited for him to fight back but when he remained silent, I scowled. “Do you want anything else?”

 

“You’re not in a good mood,” he observed.

 

“Oh!” I snorted. “I wonder why?” I added sourly.

 

He frowned. “What brought this on? Just a while ago, you were-”

 

“Don’t remind me of what happened a while ago!” I exploded. “That was a mistake!”

 

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

 

“How high you see yourself. Do you really think I’ll be. . . I’ll involve myself with someone like you? No way! I was just. . . just missing someone, I got frustrated. But I thought if there’s a substitute, I won’t be so frustrated anymore.”

 

His face was calm, went blank and then became sarcastic. “A substitute, huh?” he snorted. “Okay,” he shrugged.

 

His reaction surprised me. I kind of expected he’ll get wildly mad. I mean, ego is really a sensitive spot on guys. But why is he. . . nonchalant? Ugh! So what?

 

“Just go down if you’re hungry,” he said then walked away. I opened my mouth to call him back but no sound came out. And why would I call him back in the first place? Tsk. I closed the door and leaned my forehead against it.

 

I made a promise to be a good girlfriend to Wooyoung oppa. To make that happen, I should bring back the spoiled Dara. I should bring back the “hate relationship” between me and the pest. I balled my fists then looked down as I felt something. I held my hand up and saw the ring that Grandma gave me. “I’m sorry, Grandma,” I whispered.

 

~o~

 

“What kind of a food is this? Do you even call this food?” I complained, though it tasted fine. More than fine, actually.

 

“Don’t eat it if you don’t like it,” the pest said.

 

“And what? Starve to death? Huh! So much for eating cheap meals. If only I can talk to Dad or if just Wooyoung oppa wasn’t left behind, for sure he won’t let this happen to me.”

 

Seohyun suddenly burst out. “Why are you so-?!?”

 

“Seo, don’t mind her,” the pest cut off. “That’s what she wants.”

 

“How can I not mind her? She’s irritating the life out of me! She’s such an attention-seeker psycho!”

 

“Who are you calling psycho?” I burst out angrily, too.

 

“Whoa! I can’t believe you’re this stupid!” the girl fired back. “Why, isn’t it obvious to you? Ghaad!”

 

I angrily stood up, grabbed my plate and threw the contents at her face. She gasped in surprise but she quickly recovered. She threw me a glare and stood up forcefully that she knocked her chair down. She grabbed her own plate and threw the contents at me, too. And then, we attacked each other. We pulled each other’s hair. Lucky for me, I was able to scratch her face. Then, we were pulled away from each other.

 

“If you two want to fight, do it outside and spare the innocent foods,” the pest calmly said. “Seohyun, calm down.”

 

“She started it!” I exclaimed, pointing a finger at the girl.

 

“Hahaha. What a liar you are!” Seohyun retorted. “And FYI, you scratched my face!”

 

The pest sighed and helped the girl brush off the food from her. “Dara, go fix yourself,” the pest said.

 

I looked at him sharply, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Fine!”

 

He obviously chose side already! Gah! What am I thinking about? This is what I want, right? To bring back the old hate relationship between us?

 

Stupid! He’s plain stupid! Argh! I hate him! I hate the both of them.

 

 

Later. . .

 

“Wake up,” someone hissed in my ear.

 

“No. . .” I moaned.

 

“Damn it, brat! Wake up!” a strained voice said, and then I felt a slap on my face. I finally opened my eyes and saw the girl’s irritated face hovering above me, hair disheveled.

 

I panted. I dreamt again, dreamt of those dead bodies and the pest saying the words, “Stay alive,” and disappearing.

 

“Jeez. . . Can you lower your scream down when you’re dreaming? We need some sleep, too!”

 

“It’s not my fault! It’s as if I can control what I’m dreaming!” I snapped.

 

“Then maybe you should put a tape on your mouth to shut you up!” she said.

 

“How dare you!” I tried sounding offended but my voice came out weakly. Who wouldn’t be? When you just woke up from a nightmare?

 

“Learn to shut your mouth then!” she snapped and walked out of the room.

 

When I was left alone, it was when it hit me. Seohyun came to wake me up, not the pest. Aish! Stop thinking about him! But argh! I can’t help but remember how comfortable I was, how safe I felt when he came to me when I was dreaming before. Dang it!

 

Impossible as it may seem, what’s with all the thoughts running around my head tirelessly, I eventually fell back to sleep.

 

 

The grumbling of my stomach woke me up. I groaned and tossed around the bed. I opened my eyes and was about to go to the bathroom when the mirror caught my attention. I paused and went to it. I looked intently at my reflection and groaned out loud as I saw my neck, throat and shoulders. Ghad! I’m covered with marks! Dang it!

 

I really did cross his line of control, didn’t I?

 

 

Later. . .

 

I saw the both of them raised their eyebrows at me. Okay, I know I look funny with how I was entirely covered up with clothes. I know they’ve already seen “them” last night but they didn’t say anything about it.

 

Dang that pest! I should have known he’ll do worse!

 

“Let’s start,” the girl said to the pest as they both walked out of the cottage.

 

“Ya! Where are you going?” I asked but they didn’t answer, just ignored me.

 

Aish! I don’t like being ignored! Hate it, actually. So I followed them. I saw them stretching, the girl bouncing on her place. “It’s been a while since my last sparring practice,” the girl said, excitement in her voice.

 

“Are you sure about this?” the pest asked.

 

“Of course I am!” Seohyun beamed.

 

“I can hurt you, you know.”

 

The girl rolled her eyes. “I know but no holding back, okay? Though I know I can’t keep up with you. . .“ her voice trailed. She then positioned herself, one leg ahead of the other, fists balled and raised. She gave a test punch which the pest easily dodged. “Oh, c’mon Jiyong, fight back,” the girl said. “Treat this as a lesson. I really want to learn more.”

 

“You’re already good,” the pest said.

 

“I know that. But it’s been a while. C’mon, I know you haven’t practiced your skills for a while, too.”

 

The pest sighed. “You asked for this.”

 

In just a flash, the girl already had the pest’s arm twisted behind him, but the pest was smirking and then, it was now the other way around. Seohyun sent a kick but the pest caught her feet.

 

For the next couple of days, the BESTFRIENDS were inseparable. Like I care, duh! They’ve been doing some martial arts or whatever you call that. Much to my pleasure, the girl always ends up lying flat on her back on the ground. BWAHAHAHA!!! They’ve also started doing some practice shooting and some other stuffs. Maybe because now I know he’s my bodyguard, they can freely do those things. They don’t have to worry about me finding out the pest’s identity. A lot of times, I spotted the girl doing some push ups, sit ups and so on and so forth. I don’t really care but since I officially declared that I hate her, it pissed the hell out of me when I heard the pest praising her.

 

“Why look at you,” the pest said. “You’re hardwork’s paying off. Your body’s looking good.”

 

I don’t know why but those words ticked me off so I started doing some exercises, too.

 

“What are you doing?” a voice asked from the doorway. I froze in midair, I’ve been doing these for days already but I didn’t get caught and now. . . aish! But there’s no escaping it when I’m already caught in the act.

 

“Doing sit ups, duh!” I said, rolling my eyes and dropped myself lazily on the floor.

 

“I meant, why are you doing sit ups. And you’re actually doing it wrong. You should let Seohyun-”

 

“Seohyun, Seohyun blah blah blah!” I cut him off. “Am I not allowed to do what I want anymore? And mind your own business!”

 

“Just asking. Jeez, you’re so snappy,” he said. I glared at him. I haven’t heard that kind of tone lately. He’s been so serious these past days. Actually, he doesn’t play pranks on me anymore. Not that I want him to make fun of me, but it just felt weird in a way.

 

“What do you want anyways?” I asked.

 

“Dinner’s ready.”

 

“What did you cook?”

 

“I didn’t. Seohyun did the cooking tonight,” he said. I raised a brow at him, then a slow smirk formed my lips. He groaned.

 

“What?” I innocently asked, too innocent, that is.

 

“Look, you can say anything you want about me but don’t, just don’t pick a fight with Seohyun.”

 

I snorted. “Why not? What if her cooking skills really ? I have every right to say what I want, you know. Freedom of speech, remember? And why are you so protective?”

 

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “I’m quite used to your tongue but I’m afraid she’s not.”

 

“Better,” I grinned.