Seungri briefly smiled at Clara as she waved him goodbye. He motioned for her to go on ahead inside and eventually she disappeared from his sight. He sat in his car, looking ahead. The date hadn't been great, but at least he didn't think about Suzy the whole time. Problem was, now his mind was circling back on her. All she did was annoy the heck out of him; at work, in public, wherever it may be. And yet alongside all those annoying moments where those other moments where she would smile, and it was such a damn contagious smile.

"You know something's wrong with you when you've just been on a date with one woman and you're here thinking of another one." Seungri muttered to himself and started the car. "Get a grip, Seungri."

Seungri sighed. He really thought he had Suzy pegged. It still bothered him that she hadn't spent his money on herself. The fact that she thought so hard about getting him something he liked instead completely threw him off. It wasn't even just that. He couldn't explain why it was so easy for her to make him feel better and lighten up his mood. What was it about her?

Seungri was frowning as he stopped at a stop sign. Because he had been driving so absent-mindedly, he didn't realize that he had driven to the front of Suzy's building. When he did, his head fell. Oh for crying out loud.

His phone rang. Seungri took it out of his pocket just as he parked the car. He looked down at the caller ID. Suzy.

Feeling a little hesitant, he waited a moment before picking it up. "Hello?"

Suzy cleared . "Hi. It's me."

"What's up?"

"I…" She let out a humming sound. "I…smacked your head. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. It's just that you're…acting really weird. I just wanted to hear your voice. Ah, I mean-you kind of stopped talking altogether so I started getting worried that you… lost your voice or that you're sick or something." Suzy stopped before she could keep babbling. She clutched her forehead in embarrassment. "Okay I'm making a fool of myself. Goodb-"

"Wait." Listening to her start to ramble, Seungri slowly realized that this was how she was when she was nervous. It was frustratingly sweet. The fact that she was concerned and sorry enough to call wasn't helping. Dammit, he wanted to see her. The hell with it. "Come out. I'm just parked in front of your place."

"Eh?"

"I…dropped Clara off a while ago."

"Oh. Okay."

Suzy looked at herself in the mirror. In sweatpants and a tanktop under an old sweatshirt, she didn't look her best. She looked fairly haggard. She itched to change to something better, but stopped herself. She mustered up the courage to grab her keys and walk down the stairs in her outfit. When she reached the lobby, she saw his car parked on the other side of the street. From where she was, she could tell he looked upset.

He gave her a look-over. "Getting ready for bed?"

"No. I just wear this when I'm at home. It's comfortable," she defended, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hm. Looks like your voice is fine after all. I was wrong to worry about you." Before he could say a word, she walked around the car and climbed onto the passenger seat. As she put on her seatbelt, she said, "Since you're here and you haven't spoken to me in days…which I didn't appreciate, considering I didn't do anything bad to you, drive. There's this place nearby that I want to show you."

Without arguing, he drove out of the parking space. "Where is it? You're not trying to seduce me, are you?"

She punched his arm violently. "As if. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"It wouldn't work anyway. I'm immune," he said. "Especially with what you're wearing."

"Okay, shut up now. I'm sure Clara wears gorgeous red dresses to sleep." At the outburst of jealousy, Suzy bit her lip. This was a dangerous, dangerous topic that she wanted to avoid. When she looked out the window, she recalled the words he'd just said. Disappointment rang through her. A little bitter, she muttered, "Take a left here then park the car."

He glanced around, but couldn't see anything in the dark. "This looks shady."

When they both got out, she walked ahead of him. "It happens to be my favourite place in this world, so stop questioning it." Suzy hurried down the steps and walked past tall, leafy trees. "Come on!" She called out, turning to see him study the park warily. She rolled her eyes. "Nothing's going to kill you, so stop panicking."

"I'm not," he retorted as he reached her. "Why'd you bring me here anyway?"

She shoved her hands into her sweatshirt pockets. "I don't know. Trying to be nice? You haven't been yourself all week, so I thought it might be…Clara…or something else. Ah, whatever. It's a nice place, you'll like it. There."

He looked up. Though there were several trees blocking his view, he could see one of the rivers opening up to the open sea. A little overwhelmed at the sight, he walked farther to get a clearer view, and found a bench.

Suzy sat down first. "It takes your breath away, doesn't it?"

He took a seat beside her. "It must be nicer when the sun's out."

"Yeah, it's amazing. I always used to come here whenever I was sad or upset. I haven't been by in a while, though. When I was in middle school, the first guy I liked rejected me when I confessed to him." An amused smile was on her face as she recalled the memory. "It was the worst feeling. I thought, 'I'll never find anyone who will like me back!' Then I found this place. I cried my eyes out."

His curiosity piqued, he asked, "First love?"

Suzy shook her head. "No. It was my pride. I've never fallen in love, I told you." Relieved that they were speaking normally to each again, she faced him. "You have a first love, I remember. Was it worth it?"

"What?"

"Falling in love with her." It had bothered her for twenty-six years. She truly wanted to know what it was like to completely fall in love with someone.

"It's not like you have a choice, but I don't regret it."

"What was it like? How did you meet her? What was she like? What did she like about you? When did you know you loved her?"

Seungri glanced at her and saw the pure innocence and interest in her eyes. Going back to that time in his life was something he rarely ever chose to do, but for some reason, he didn't want to disappoint her, so he tried recalling the memories. They were still painful to remember. At one point, Hara had become the world. Nothing else had mattered.

"You really don't know what it's like?"

When she shook her head vehemently, he chuckled lightly, not out of ridicule, but out of amusement. Suzy was as innocent as they came.

"We met when we were in high school, but we weren't really friends until university." He let himself remember the brown-haired, hazel-eyed girl who used to be the only one who could make him uncomfortable and happy at the same time. "I don't know, we ended up spending a lot of time together. Hara, she was always there, even when I didn't want her around. She was different."

Suzy smiled softly. It was that side of Seungri she was listening to now, the sweet one that hardly ever came out. It made her happy to hear him talk about love like that. For her, love was a precious feeling that had to be treasured. "Where is she now?"

At that, the lightness in his eyes faded. "Who knows."

"She must be regretting it," Suzy murmured, oblivious to the change in his facial expression. "Not loving you back, I mean."

Frowning, he turned and studied her. "Why?"

"I don't know, it seems like you really loved her. Any woman should be grateful to have someone love them like that. Real love like that…I don't think it comes as often as people expect it to or even just hope it to."

Thinking back now at how miserable he'd looked that night at the beach, she wondered if maybe that place had a special meaning to Seungri and his girlfriend. When he continued staring at her, she reddened. "I was just thinking about that time in Jeiju. I can still remember how sad you looked that night. It worried me," she admitted with a light laugh. "That was the first time I saw a different side of you."

"A different side?"

She shrugged, embarrassed at what she'd just said. "You know. The side that cares about people. The part of you that rarely ever comes out," she said, punching him lightly. "Anyway. How was the date with Clara? You guys seem like you're getting along well."

At the change of subject, Seungri stretched out his legs in front of him. "Clara's nice. She's not that different from the other women I've dated before. When we go out for dinner, it's mostly her talking about work or her life, and I just listen. I don't mind it. I don't expect anything out of it. I probably won't ask her out again."

"That's a little cold. She likes you so much and you're leading her on. You should tell her properly if you're not interested," Suzy said, frowning as relief coursed through her.

He studied her profile and saw the way her bottom lip jutted out, like when it usually did when she was frustrated. Unable to help it, Seungri smiled wryly as he looked away. "You know I'm not prince charming, Suzy. I went out with her even though I don't like her that way. I led her on because I needed the company. But..." He straightened up. "I'll break it off. I'm not patient. I get annoyed easily. It's getting to be a drag hanging out with her since there's nothing there. It's no good to lie after all."

"What exactly do you think it means when I say prince charming?"

He smirked. "The famous knight in shining armour. The man who accepts everything about the woman unconditionally. He's got to be good-looking, physically capable, patient…all that good stuff. I mean, ask any guy out there. He doesn't exist. But damn. All women look for him. You do. Clara. I bet Hara was looking for that guy too, and since I'm nowhere near him, I got rejected." He stood up, feeling agitated. "I'm used to it."

Suzy watched him, the same troubled feeling settling in. He was right in a way. She had an image of what Daniel was supposed to be; to be exactly as that man Seungri had just described. And yet he wasn't. In the looks department, he certainly got close enough. But…

Suzy studied Seungri's face. As much as he denied how different he was from what all women wanted, he was closer to prince charming than Daniel could dream of being. Her heart pounding at the realization, she looked away. Wait. No, that's not-

Seungri was the one who was there for her every single time she needed it. She could still remember how she felt when he'd knelt down and bandaged her ankles. Even when he'd invited her to walk aimlessly around Gangnam to get those tickets. When he'd made that bet with her and later followed up on his word by taking her to the mall. How she'd felt all those times was exactly how she was feeling now.

You're wrong, Seungri. You're exactly him. He was what she'd been looking for all this time.

"Why so quiet?"

Staggered at where her thoughts had gone, she got up. This wasn't how imagined things would be. All her life, she had expected the first man she would fall for to be someone completely different. Continuing to stare up at him now, she couldn't stop the surge of feelings. Amidst it all, fear came rising quickly. Everything was changing. Wanting to be away from him, she brushed her hair back and said loudly, "I want to go home."

Eyeing her cautiously, he could tell she was hiding something. Leaving it alone, he said, "I'll take you back."