Day 35

 

More than a week had passed and the two had grown closer to each other, though the bickering and insults weren’t completely scrapped off the two’s formula. However, there was one thing that was scrapped off and it was on their contract. It was rule number two. Therefore, both of them could now start conversations without being restricted. They realized it was important if they planned on treating each other better from now on. It proved to be effective so far.

 

“YAH! SANDORA PARK!”

 

“What now? And can you please call me properly?” Dara complained while she was making her way towards his room. “What?” she asked. She was still wearing her apron and was wiping her hands with it.

 

“What is this thing on the wall?” Jiyong asked.

 

“Oh,” Dara said and then giggled. “I bought it yesterday when I went to the market like you told me. I saw this on a store I passed by on my way home and thought it would help you remember about the 100-day contract.”

 

“I understand that but what’s with all these too cute stuffs? In case you forgot, this is a male room. And look at my room and then look at this, it doesn’t fit in!” he complained.

 

“YAH! GD! Look at these cute cartoon stickers. How can you not appreciate their cuteness?” Dara asked, now already in front of the calendar she posted up on his wall with most of its days covered already with the stickers. On the side was a small pocket where the cute stickers were. She picked up some and showed them to him. “Look at SpongeBob here, and oh, Tweety Bird too! And kyaaa, look at Hello Kitty. Why can’t you see their cuteness, Mister Dragon?!”

 

Jiyong walked towards it too, maintaining a meter of distance from her. He picked up some and returned them inside. “Why is there no Dora ones?”

 

Dara buried her face on her palms. “Because I know what you’re going to do if I buy them too.”

 

Jiyong resisted the urge to smile at her reactions. As he couldn’t do it anymore, he turned around and I smiled just in time as Dara looked up. “I’m hungry. I have a schedule today.”

 

“Schedule? Is your ankle already alright that your boss is already permitting you to go on with your schedule?” she asked, as she followed him out of his bedroom.

 

“That’s exactly it. The doctor told me to go back after a month when I last consulted with him. Hopefully, he could remove the cast already,” he said as he dropped himself on the sofa where Dara’s blanket and pajamas were untidily sprawled. He just threw her pajamas and blanket aside as he plopped himself on the sofa. “It’s quite difficult to move around with this, not to mention to bathe.”

 

“I bet your foot stinks now,” Dara mumbled but Jiyong was still able to hear. He threw her one of the pillows on the sofa which hit directly on Dara’s face, causing Jiyong to burst out laughing. She couldn’t avenge as she still had something to do, leaving Jiyong satisfied.

 

Jiyong was left on the sofa, his arms spread on the headrest as he looked around Dara’s ‘bedroom’. Except for the blankets and pajamas, the living room was quite clean with her clothes neatly folded on the couch, her guitar on the corner, her bag beside it, and…

 

“Oh, you also have a calendar here?” he called out as he picked up the much smaller calendar on the side desk.

 

“Yes, I do! I also need something to constantly remind me about the much-awaited 100^th day,” she said through the kitchen. “I don’t have stickers for them because my money lacked that time.”

 

“Your money?” Jiyong repeated. “I’m pretty sure the change from the ingredients you bought in the market went to the calendars.”

 

Dara flinched and bit her lower lip. She then awkwardly giggled. “You can deduct my salary then.”

 

“Who ever said I wouldn’t? I knew by the time I saw the freakishly girly calendar in my room that you spent way too much of my money,” he said and then laughed. He then added to himself. “Ah, but with all the rule violations I did, I wonder how much her salary would be by the end of this. I sure hope she doesn’t take notes.”

 

“I do mental notes!” Dara called out from the kitchen again, poking her head to the living room and winked at him.

 

She heard? He thought.

 

“It has already reac—“

 

Dara was cut off when the doorbell rang. Both of them froze on their places – Dara straightening up and Jiyong standing up from the sofa.

 

“I thought you said you never expect visitors,” Dara said, stepping out of the kitchen.

 

“I did,” Jiyong whispered.

 

“I wonder who came by then,” she said as she started to walk towards the door. “Who is—“

 

As fast as lightning though, Jiyong ran towards her as he covered , a look of horror on his face. Dara struggled in his grip after being dumbfounded at his actions. She looked up at him seeing his fearful eyes.

 

“YAH! What’s—“

 

“Stop making noises,” Jiyong hushed her, covering with his hand again. “It might be—“

 

“Those just might be fangirls,” Dara whispered as she successfully, once again, freed from his grip on as his hand constantly weakened every single time the doorbell resonated in the apartment. She was about to open the door already when Jiyong held her by her arm.

 

“Peek on the peephole first,” he whispered.

 

Dara complied and as she did, her head tilted in confusion. “Do you have sasaeng fanboys too?”

 

Jiyong went and peeked on the peephole and it was as if air got stuck in his airway the moment his eye fell on the guy who was in front of his door. He was wearing a hoodie and a mask but he recognized the eyes. He would recognize those eyes everywhere – those eyes with dark circles.

 

He turned to Dara. “Quick. Hide!”

 

“Hide?” Dara asked in confusion.

 

“JUST HIDE!” he commanded in a hushed tone.

 

In panic, Dara went to the back of the sofa where he once hid when fangirls appeared in front of his door.

 

“NOT THERE!” he screamed in a hushed tone.

 

Dara stood up again and ran around in circles, trying to find an ideal spot to hide. The sound of the doorbells ringing kept on resonating around the apartment and Dara thought whoever that guy was indeed impatient. Dara then abruptly stopped and turned to him. “Where shall I hide?”

 

“I don’t know, there!” he said and pointed at the curtains. She hid there but her feet were in sight. “No, not there either,” he commanded and Dara got out again, panicking like he was. “Uhhh… Uhhh… th-there. No, not there. Oh, sht,” he cursed. “In the refrigerator!”

 

Dara stopped in the middle of the room with her hands on her waists as she heard that. “Refrigerator? Really?!” she exclaimed, keeping her voice low. “I’ll hide in your studio.”

 

“No, he might head there,” he said. “Not in the bathroom too. He might head there too.”

 

“I’ll hide in your bedroom then,” Dara said as she ran towards his room, not waiting for his approval.

 

When Dara was nowhere in sight and the bedroom door was shut tight, Jiyong turned to the door and opened it.

 

“HYUUUUUNNNNGGGG~~~”

 

But Jiyong was nowhere close in the mood to play with the guy. He gave the guy a smack in the head as he fell forwards to his tiled floor before he closed the door behind him.

 

“SEUNGRI! WHAT THE ACTUAL FCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

 

Seungri laughed maniacally. “I missed you too.”

 

“Don’t you dare sweet-talk me. What are you doing here?! Aren’t you supposed to be promoting in Japan? Does boss know? If he doesn’t, I will let him—“

 

“Relax, hyung,” Seungri said as he stood up and dropped his arm over Jiyong’s shoulder. “YG-CEO knows, don’t worry. In fact, he was the one who sent me here as he said, ‘Go and be the one to accompany your hyung to the doctor. I know he misses you,’” he said, imitating his boss’s voice.

 

“Well, then. Tell YG-CEO that he’s wrong because I don’t miss you. And manager-hyung will be the one to accompany me to the doctor. So, you may leave now, panda,” Jiyong said, about to open the door when Seungri held on to the knob.

 

“Panda is hungry,” Seungri said, acting cute and pouting at his hyung. “Oh, I smell something. Are you cooking?”

 

Jiyong’s eyes widened. Dara’s cooking, he thought as he ran towards the kitchen to turn off the stove. With the potholder, he opened the pot and prayed the food she cooked wasn’t ruined yet. Although it wasn’t in its best condition, it seemed like it was still edible. He hoped.

 

“Hyung, whose pajamas are these?”

 

Jiyong gasped as he ran out the kitchen and saw Seungri holding Dara’s pajamas in the air. He snatched them from him and hid them behind him. “This is mine,” he said and chuckled awkwardly.

 

“You like Hello Kitty?!” Seungri gasped.

 

“Yes, I mean no… I mean…” he stammered and groaned. “YAH! SEUNGRI-YAH, get out of here now. I’ll drive myself to the hospital.”

 

Seungri smirked and stood up from the couch. “I know when hyung keeps something,” he said and walked closer to him. “He sweats profusely. He chuckles awkwardly. He stammers,” he said and then poked his shoulder and Jiyong flinched. “He flinches from just a slight poke,” he said and stood beside him. “What are you hiding, hyung? Is it a…” Seungri then ran and opened the bathroom. “…girl?”

 

“NO!” Jiyong instinctively said, but with too much defensiveness in his voice.

 

Seeing the bathroom empty, he crossed his arms over his chest. With a mischievous grin plastered on his lips, he then went towards the next room, which was the studio and saw it empty as well. He also checked the kitchen. He then laughed maniacally.

 

“YAH! STOP IT NOW, WILL YOU? I WILL NOT GIVE YOU LINES IN OUR NEXT ALBUM!” Jiyong threatened as he saw Seungri getting closer to the bedroom. As he was just a mere three feet away from the room, Jiyong ran towards the door, pressing his back on it. He then heard a thud in the next room and he instantly knew what that was.

 

Meanwhile…

 

Dara dropped on the floor when she felt a hard thud on the door. This was what her habit of eavesdropping through the door brought her. She should have learned by the time Jiyong caught her once.

 

“THERE’S NO ONE IN MY ROOM! NO ONE! NO.ONE!” Dara heard Jiyong screaming on the other side of the door.

 

She instantly understood why he was screaming. He was giving her a clue. In another panic attack, she stood up and ran around the room, trying to locate a good hiding spot. She went behind the curtains but realized her feet were showing. She hid under the blanket but realized it would be too obvious. She hid under the bed but she started coughing because of the dust (Mental note: vacuum under the bed).

 

“NO! DON’T GO INSIDE. THERE’S NO ONE!” she heard him scream again and she knew the door would open any second now.

 

And then, with no choice left, she hid inside his closet.

 

“SEUNGRI-YAAAHHHH!” Jiyong screamed as Seungri was successful in opening the door, sending the both of them to the ground, with Seungri on top of Jiyong.

 

The both of them immediately looked around the room, missing the second when the doors of the closet moved. Seeing that the room was once again empty (to Seungri’s dismay), Jiyong smiled triumphantly.

 

“I told you there’s no one,” Jiyong said as he roughly pushed the poor maknae off him. He then quickly stood in front of the closet as he had figured how her mind had worked and as he did, he heard a faint cough inside. He quietly clicked his tongue to silence her.

 

“Hmmm… good job,” Seungri said as he paced the room.

 

“Now, you can leave, right?” Jiyong asked and then chuckled awkwardly again. He then covered his mouth as he remembered the Jiyong’s-signs-of-lying list by Seungri.

 

“Of course not,” Seungri said and then his eyes caught something on the wall. “What is this cute calendar doing hanging on this wall?” he asked and then laughed. “It’s completely out-of-character, hyung.”

 

Seungri was about to get the calendar off the wall when Jiyong jumped towards it. “You can’t rip it off the wall,” he said. “It’s… mine. I hung it there. It’s completely my character. What nonsense are you saying, Seungri?” he asked and chuckled, trying his best not to sound awkward with it.

 

Fortunately, Seungri didn’t seem like he had noticed the awkwardness. He also left the calendar alone as Jiyong fixed it on the wall. “Now, Seungri, you can—“

 

Jiyong was cut off when he turned around and saw Seungri lying comfortably on the bed with his shoes on.

 

“YAH! Take your shoes off, Dara had alr—“ he cut himself off when he realized what he was about to say.

 

“Dara eh? Who’s this Dara person?” Seungri asked, sitting up.

 

“Dara? HA, HA, HA. I said Dora,” he said. “Didn’t you see the latest episode when… when… Boots and Dora went to have a sleepover in Boots’ place and Dora… s-she taught us to always, you know… take your shoes off when—“

 

Seungri laughed maniacally at this. “YOU WATCH DORA?”

 

Meanwhile, inside the closet, there was one soul who was trying to stifle her laughter, biting her lips, even covering with her hand, and even putting her head in between her knees.

 

“YES, I DO! I LOVE DORA! AND HER PET MONKEY AND ALSO THOSE FROGS WHO PLAY INSTRUMENTS!”

 

Seungri (and the hiding soul inside the closet) laughed once more. Seungri literally rolled on the bed as he laughed, clutching on his stomach.

 

“This will be a good story to tell when we go back to variety shows,” he said and then laughed once again.

 

“YAH! ARE YOU NOT GOING TO LEAVE?! DO I NEED TO DRAG YOU OUT OF MY APARTMENT?!” Jiyong said. “DIDN’T I TELL YOU NOT TO COME TO MY APARTMENT WITHOUT NOTICE?!” he said as he started dragging Seungri off the bed. Seungri fell on his but he was still laughing. “I AM SO NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU MORE LINES ON OUR NEXT ALBUM! I AM SO NOT GOING TO PRODUCE YOUR NEXT SOLO ALBUM! I AM SO NOT GOING TO—“

 

As Jiyong continued to ramble on and on with his threats while dragging the poor panda on the floor, Seungri just continued laughing. After a few minutes, even before Jiyong could drag him out of the room, a round of laughter that didn’t belong to Seungri resonated, catching Seungri and Jiyong’s attention. Both of their eyes went towards the source – the closet.

 

After a few seconds of tension, the doors of the closet opened and out came a woman who was laughing loudly as he fell to the ground.

 

“DORA… HE SAYS… HE SAYS HE LOVED DORA! BWAHAHAHA. AND BOOTS AND THE FROGS! BWAHAHAHA! EVEN THE FROGS!” Dara exclaimed. As soon as she opened her tearful eyes caused by laughing too much, she realized she was found out. She looked up to a flaming dragon and a smug panda.

 

“I knew it…” Seungri said.

 

“Dara…” Jiyong said under gritted teeth.

 

 She could only say: “Uh-oh…” and crawl back to the darkness of the closet.