Only know you love him when you let him go

Today is a Saturday. It wasn't just an ordinary Saturday, it was the Saturday. It would be the final episode for Chanyeol and Krystal's stint as couples in WGM. It has been six days since Dara had told Chanyeol about her wish, and although Dara knew that Chanyeol would be following her wish, she was scared to watch today's final episode.

Instead of waiting for today's broadcast, Dara went home to the Park residence, in the comfort of her bed and the homemade food of her mother.

"Dara?" A soft voice knocked on Dara's door.

"It's open." Dara immediately wiped the tears that were on her face.

She approached Dara, "Are you okay?", she asked worriedly.

"Y-yea." Dara assured, although the puff of her eyes told her otherwise.

"You barely come home nowadays, and I know you only do when something's bothering you. I'm always here, you know." She told Dara as she sat on the bedside. Dara was lying on her side, her back facing the other person.

She patted Dara's shoulder, making Dara face her. “When you’re ready, I’m always here to listen, okay?” She told Dara.

But Dara didn't move, she had no energy to, after pouring out her thoughts in her tears.

“What could be bothering you, my dear?" She murmured to herself, but didn’t have the guts to ask her straightly, but Dara had heard her whisper, and she looked back.

Dara sat up, fixing up her disheveled hair, she heaved, "Have you ever felt like you don't know if you did the right decision? When you thought you were sure with that you decided upon but something tells you that you might regret it in the end..?"  She asked, and then Dara sighed.

Dara sat up on the bed, folding her legs, and then drank the glass of water that she gave her, "Mom.." She started.

"I have a friend, she.. She has a friend that’s a boy, actually she met him at the most unusual way. The guy was a fan, he was someone who had stayed by her side through thick and thin, this boy, he became a good friend to her." Dara’s mother listened attentively. My baby is having boy trouble.

"He was there when I- I mean, my friend was happy and in love, and he was there when she got heart broken, too."

"This boy, he was someone special to me-- my friend. They never had a label to their relationship, but they always get mistaken as lovers."

“..Because he was always there, she never felt alone with him.” Dara added.

“Dear, by how you describe him, he’s not just a boy, he’s a man.” Dara’s mother told her, by Dara’s description, this guy wasn’t just another boy; he wasn’t like the other boys, because this boy had already matured into a man.

Dara paused.

"But this boy, I mean man..” Dara corrected.

She continued, “He had someone else. He met someone… and, honestly speaking, they looked better together. That although they were never a couple, my friend wanted to make him happy..."

"So my friend had made ways to partner both together and.." Dara gulped.

"This friend of yours.. She pushed him to the new girl?" Her mother concluded.

"Well.. yes." Dara admitted.

"And what did he say?"

"Noona, what are you doing here?" Chanyeol asked again, now whispering, not to attract anyone else.

"I'm going to tell you my third wish." Dara simply said, and then she gave him an assuring smile.

Perplexed, Chanyeol asked, "Now?"

Dara nodded, followed by a grin.

"Since you have done the two wishes easily, I bet you could do this easily, too." Dara started telling him.

"Okay, what is it, noona?" Chanyeol asked, excitedly.

Dara contemplated if she should tell him already, but it’s now or never, so she just blurted it out. "Sincerely like Krystal."

Chanyeol's expression changed into confusion and disbelief.

"She's happy with you, and you seem happy with her, as well. So my third wish is try to like her not just for reel, but for real this time." Dara explained, trying to tell him about the idea.

Chanyeol didn’t immediately agree, he had so many questions popping in an out of his head as Dara’s voice replayed on his head. "B-but noona, why?" Chanyeol stood up from his seat, asking the stylist to excuse their conversation. The stylist immediately bowed and bid good-bye.

Chanyeol gazed at Dara, his eyes searching for answers. Dara met his gaze, and she felt electricity run through her veins, as his gaze never left her. It was as if his eyes were pleading that what he is witnessing was all fake. Tell me it’s not true.

Chanyeol's voice went lower, the smile on his face was long gone, "D-do you think I like Krystal?" He asked, unbelievingly.

"Krystal genuinely likes your company, everyone likes your couple." Dara explained, not answering Chanyeol’s question.

"But I don't like Krystal that way, Dara noona." Chanyeol told her, cutting her statement.

But Dara wasn’t listening, "And you, Chanyeol, you change when you're with her. You smile differently, you laugh differently, you're happy with her." Dara adds, not minding the protests Chanyeol was sending her.

Chanyeol shook his head. "Krystal's a pretty girl, she's friendly. Anyone would want to date her, but noona.."

"Come on, Chanyeol. It's my third wish." Dara pleaded, although it may be complicated at first, it would all get settled in time, right now, all that Dara wanted was to make things correct.

"Is that really what you want me to do, Dara noona?" Chanyeol's voice cracked.

Dara didn't answer.

"If that's what would make you happy, then I would do it." Chanyeol nodded, the smile coming back to his face, although Dara knew his smile is not as genuine as before.

"He didn't want to, at first. He didn't.. The look in his eyes was.." Dara folded her knees; she could still remember the look in Chanyeol's eyes when she told him the wish. It was absurd for Chanyeol.

"Why do you think your friend pushed him away?" Her mother asked.

Dara paused, why did I push him away, and then replied, "Because she feels like whatever she would do, she would never be at par with him. That although he never vocally told her that he liked her, she knew she would never be the one chosen in the end. Maybe she was just trying to make things easier for the guy, too."

Her mother’s gaze went softer, "Is it because you feel that you don't deserve him?"

"Yea.." Dara answered, although her eyes immediately widened when she realized what she just told her mom.

"I mean, my friend does, it's not me." She immediately pulled back.

Dara's mother chuckled, "You don't have to pretend in front of me, Dara."

“But mom!” Dar