“Eunhye, what are you doing here?” Seunghyun knew what he did wrong and he instantly felt horrible when he saw the look in her eyes. She didn’t answer his question and walked out of the room. He followed her out after closing the door to Dara’s bedroom. He didn’t want her to wake up because of his own problems.

“Eunhye listen to me!” He tried to hold back Eunhye, who was trying to leave the house, but she had enough and didn’t want to hear his explanation. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what he would say.

“Eunhye just listen to me!” He grabbed his wrist and pulled her back.

“What Seunghyun? What? Are you still going to tell me that nothing is going on between you two? Because don’t do you dare, both of us know that’s not true.” Eunhye was pissed and hurt, and she couldn’t control her emotions any longer.

“Theres noth-” Seunghyun couldn’t finish his sentence.

“What does she have Seunghyun? You said she’s only been here for a few days, and you already like her enough to forget about me. We’ve been together for three years! How the hell do you forget me in three days?!” She was screaming now and Seunghyun knew Dara would wake up soon if she continued to scream.

“Eunhye stop screaming, you’re going to wake up Dara.” He tried to stay calm.

“I don’t care if she wakes up! Why aren’t you answering my questions?”

“I don’t know Eunhye I’m just confused.” Seunghyun was very confused, he, himself didn’t know how he was feeling or why he’s feeling that way.

“You don’t seem confused at all. You looked like you pretty much made up your decision. Don’t lie and tell me that you don’t know what to do. You’ve been lying to me since the beginning, haven’t you?”

“What are you talking about? What would I lie about?”

“Why did you start dating me?”

“Are you serious Eunhye? You doubt my reasons for dating you? I dated you because I liked you and I still do!”

“Then why are you coming in the house with Dara in your arms and wishing her a freaking good night!”

“She fell asleep in the car! It was her first day of work so I brought her home.” Seunghyun knew he was wrong for doing what he did in the elevator but strangely he didn’t regret it.

“You’re lying. I saw the way you looked at her. You never gave me that look.” Eunhye’s voice broke at the end and she began to tear up. Seunghyun reached forward to console her but he was pushed away.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Eunhye look, we can’t talk right now. You’re angry, I’m confused. It’ll just end badly.”

“What are you implying?”

“I just think… maybe we should take a break… away from each other. Then when we’re both calm, we’ll talk.”

The tears spilled out from Eunhye’s eyes when she heard the words come out of his mouth. She wasn’t stupid; she knew what a “break” meant. No one ever got back together after a break. The truth is Eunhye may be a very powerful business woman in front of everyone but inside she was insecure. She put up a fearless act in front of everyone but she only did that to keep herself from getting hurt. Losing both her parents at the age of four was something she still deals with today and at one point it got easier to deal with when she found Seunghyun. He made her laugh, feel excited, feel beautiful, and most of all he made her feel comfortable. Every time they would fight, Eunhye would fear that she would lose him. This was the first time he had ever suggested they stop seeing each other for a while and she knew that he was gone. She walked away from his house ignoring him as he called after her. Seeing Dara in his arms was too much for her and she hated Dara for taking him away from her. She envied Dara for the looks Seunghyun gave her.

Eunhye’s insecurity grew old for Seunghyun. He was tired of constantly having to reassure her that he wasn’t going behind her back to date someone or even having to make sure he didn’t glance at a woman passing by when he was with her. He knew she loved him and at one point he did love her back, but he doesn’t know if he still does. He realized that night, while staying up and drinking, that he doesn’t feel the same way about her any longer. In the beginning, the thought of Eunhye brought upon a smile on his face, butterflies in his stomach, and sweaty palms. However, now there was no smile when he thought of her, instead now he barely thought about her when she wasn’t next to him. Seunghyun realized his lack of feelings for Eunhye that night but made no progress with Dara. He couldn’t figure out what exactly he felt for Dara. Seunghyun knew he liked having her around in the house because she was entertaining and made him food but he also knew how much he likes her smile and cute antics. While thinking hard about the girl, he realized the mess he was making. There were multiple beer cans surrounding him and the one in his hand currently was crushed and all the liquid inside had surged out and onto his shirt. He growled in frustration because nothing was going right and he still didn’t get to a conclusion about Dara. After cleaning up his mess and throwing his dirty shirt in the hamper, Seunghyun decided to call it a night.

~

The days passed by quickly now that both Dara and Seunghyun had a job. It’s been about 4 weeks that Dara moved back to Korea and both her and Seunghyun have gotten closer. Dara knew Seunghyun and Eunhye were having problems, from the constant calls, but she didn’t try to get into their business thinking she’d make it worse. Seunghyun and Dara were often mistaken as a couple when they went outside to eat or hang out and everytime Dara would laugh at the guess. This left Seunghyun to be at an awkward spot. He realized his feelings for Dara but the only thing holding him back was the fact that she didn’t like him back. Seunghyun tried his best to hint at his feelings for her but Dara, being the oblivious girl she was, didn’t notice any of the signs. Instead she continued to fall for her boss Kim Jaejoong. She was convinced that the man was perfect, he had everything. Jaejoong was beautiful, kind, generous, funny, talented, and in her mind just perfect. It was her 3^rd week working in Café Bene when she noticed a small stage set up at one side of the café. She was confused and went to find Chaerin to ask her about it.

“Hey Chaerin?”

“What happened Unnie?”

“Why is there a stage set up at the side of the café?”

“OH that’s right! You don’t know about it but every 26^th of the month oppa performs for the audience. It’s always one of our busiest days of the month, all the girls come to watch him sing and then they fangirl. It’s pretty entertaining, plus oppa has a great voice.”

“Why the 26^th?”

“His birthdays on the 26^th of January so I guess maybe that’s why?”

“Ohhhh. Okay thanks. I’ll go back to setting up the tables.”

That day Dara couldn’t wait for the clock to strike 7 pm. When it finally came she noticed everyone quieting down and Jaejoong walking up the small stairs to the stage. He sat behind the piano and gave the crowd his infamous smile. As Chaerin said, the girls fangirled and Dara couldn’t help but join in as well, but on the inside.

“Hey guys, it’s the 26^th and I’ll be performing like I always do this time of the month. For today I thought I’d do something different and perform some of my own pieces. I don’t know if you’ll like them or not, but I worked really hard on both and actually wanted to dedicate them to someone who happens to be here today.” The girls all squealed hoping it would be them.

“This first song is called I’ll Protect You.” Jaejoong said shortly and then looked down at the keys of the piano. As he played the first notes Dara couldn’t help but feel as if time had stopped. Suddenly there was no one else in the café but her and him. He was playing for her, singing for her. Jaejoong sang the lyrics with ease and he poured his emotions into every line. Dara had never heard such a sincere voice in her life before. The first song ended too soon and Dara realized that they weren’t alone in the room, they were far from it. Applause filled the café and girls screaming “MARRY ME.” Jaejoong laughed at the response and bowed in gratitude. He then introduced his next song to be “Why did I fall in love with you?” Once again the café was silent, no one spoke, they were all anticipating his next song. As he played the piano, he sang the first words to the song and blew everyone away. Jaejoong was singing in fluent Japanese with just as much emotion as his first song. This song was more upbeat but just as sincere. Dara didn’t know if she was being delusional or not, but she realized that Jaejoong was singing while looking in her direction. Her eyes widened at the thought that she might be the girl his songs were dedicated to and she couldn’t help but blush and look down while smiling.

In the middle of Jaejoong’s first performance, Seunghyun had walked into the café knowing his friend would be performing today. He stood by the entrance listening to his friend sing when his eyes involuntarily started to look for Dara. When they finally spotted her, he found her to look strange. Her full attention was on Jaejoong and her eyes were glistening. She looked completely awed and he couldn’t help but feel jealous. She never looked at him like that. When Jaejoong began singing his second song, Seunghyn was still staring at Dara, and he noticed her blushing and shy smile as she looked down at the floor. He broke his stare and looked at Jaejoong and found him to be singing in Dara’s direction. Dara obviously thought he was singing to her. When Jaejoong finished his performance for the night the audience playfully screamed “ENCORE,” but Jaejoong laughed them off and said good bye. Jaejoong was walking towards Dara’s direction once again and Seunghyun noticed how nervous and excited Dara got. However, just as Jaejoong inched to Dara, he walked past her to another woman behind her. Seunghyun saw Dara turn around to watch Jaejoong hug another woman who had tears in her eyes. Dara’s face fell. Her smile was gone, replaced with a hurt look. The shine in her eyes were gone and were replaced with confusion. That’s when Seunghyun realized, Dara liked Jaejoong and not him. If one was to look at both Seunghyun’s and Dara’s faces at the moment, they’d say it was identical. They both looked heartbroken.

Seunghyun left home first without meeting Dara or congratulating Jaejoong on the successful performances. He just wanted to be alone. Dara left work after being introduced to her boss’ new girlfriend Jessica, a pretty woman with black hair and a nice smile. Dara left immediately after changing out of her apron. She wanted to be alone. On the bus ride home Dara couldn’t help but feel so stupid for thinking her boss would like her, his own employee. At that moment all she wanted to do was sleep. When she entered the apartment, she found no one in the living room or kitchen. She realized Seunghyun was in his room and didn’t want to bother him, or be bothered herself. After changing out of her work clothes and into her pajamas, she went to bed. Hours had passed since both of them arrived home, but Seunghyun still wasn’t asleep. He was lying in his bed thinking about Dara and how bad his luck was when he heard some noise. At first he thought imagined it but then he heard it again. He walked out to the living room and realized the noise was coming from Dara’s room. He ran over in panic and opened the door to find Dara in bed screaming. She was having a nightmare. He rushed over to her side to wake her up but she wasn’t waking up, but instead continued to scream.

“STOP GET AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE ME ALONE! DON’T TOUCH ME! STOPPPPP!!!!”

Seunghyun was surprised at her screams, she sounded terrified. He finally shook her hard and her eyes opened wide. She instantly jumped into Seunghyun’s embrace and cried. Dara was shaking and appeared to still be affected by the dream as she said “Tabi help me! He’s coming for me and I’m scared, please!” Dara was straight out sobbing into Seunghyun’s chest now and grabbing onto his shirt, which was now stained by her tears. Seunghyun wrapped his arms around Dara’s shaking body and brought her closer.

“Shhhh, it’s ok Dara I’m here. It was just a dream Dara you’re fine. I’m here aren’t I? You’re safe, it’s okay stop crying.” Seunghyun held her for hours until she finally calmed down and fell asleep in his arms. Seunghyun didn’t know what she dreamt about but he knew it was bad. She was covered in cold sweat.

One whole week passed by after that nightmare and Dara never told Seunghyun what she saw in that dream, she could never tell him. She could never tell anyone.

***** Special thanks to Chobyeol for being the huge Cassie she is and helping me with the Jaejoong relaed things! Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it! Pleae comment on your thoughts on the story.