Day 70

 

“Ji…”

 

“Ji…”

 

“Yong…”

 

“Ji…”

 

“Jong...”

 

“Yi…”

 

“Yijong? Yijong? Should I call him Yijong instead?” Dara asked as she stared at the ceiling. She had been awake for hours already. She couldn’t sleep even though Jiyong told her that they had a flight to catch tomorrow morning. Yes, he was going to take her to their tour even though she insisted to stay. These days, Jiyong was acting stranger than usual, kinder than usual, nicer than usual. He even started calling her by her real name. It gave her the creeps.

 

These past few days as well, she kept practicing calling him by his name. She never knew it was this hard. It was more difficult than the last Math exam she took in school. She just found it really awkward, like something bitter on her tongue.

 

“Aish, GD is a much better name,” she grunted as she covered herself with the blanket, forcing herself to sleep. “GDiot is the best name though,” she said as she closed her eyes.

 

 

 

 

Day 71

 

Japan was a cold country just like Korea but that didn’t stop Dara from freezing the moment she stepped on the country. She hugged herself, wishing her coat was ten times thicker. Later, BIGBANG would be having rehearsals and tomorrow would be their concert. She looked behind at the crowd where fans were all around them at the airport.

 

“I hope he won’t get sick,” she whispered to herself. “The weather is too cold today. Did he bring hot packs? Or medicines? Omo! I forgot to pack for him.”

 

Suddenly, somebody bumped into her. “Aish, what are you doing there standing and mumbling by yourself? Hurry up. We have to arrive at the hotel before BIGBANG does.”

 

When she passed by, Dara made a face behind her back before she followed behind. She just couldn’t understand why this BIGBANG assistant hated her so much. She had been like this ever since.

 

 

 

After the rehearsal…

 

“Here’s a bottle of water,” Dara said, giving it to Jiyong as he got down from the stage.

 

Jiyong cleared his throat repeatedly followed by nonstop coughing before he took a gulp of water.

 

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

 

“I think I caught a cold,” he said, his voice a bit hoarse.

 

“Wait, I’ll fetch some medicines,” she said. She went back with medicines on her hand while Jiyong waited at the dressing room. “Why did you catch a cold? I told you, you should have dressed thickly. You chose your ripped jeans again while on our way to Japan right?”

 

Jiyong glared at her. “Stop nagging. My head’s already aching. Don’t add up to it.”

 

“Geez,” she said.

 

“Besides, it was your fault. You forgot to pack up my scarf and my coat. I looked for them for me to use on this rehearsal. I see you forgot to pack them for me. I told you last night, didn’t I? Aish, you’re such an idiot.”

 

Hearing his words, Dara’s eyebrows met and she felt her blood fuming. “Are you seriously saying that it’s my fault?”

 

“YES! It’s your fault! It’s your fault I’m sick like this. I wouldn’t catch a cold if you haven’t forgotten to pack my things. I would be able to perform better tonight for my fans. And it’s your fault if I couldn’t.”

 

Hearing them, Dara was really sure she would explode right now. She was already going to jump on him and unleash her hidden tigress when she felt a pair of arms stopping her from behind.

 

“WHOA THERE!” it was Seungri. “Dara, you were called by Gee Eun noona. Go to her,” he said.

 

When Dara seemed to have relaxed a little, he let go of her. She didn’t let her gaze off Jiyong though even as she made her way towards Gee Eun. It was only when Gee Eun ordered her to get some things when she did.

 

“What happened?” Seungri asked.

 

“I’ve got a cold and it’s her fault,” Jiyong said.

 

“Aren’t you being too hard on her?”

 

“Stop meddling, you rat,” he said as he made his way to the restroom.

 

“I wonder if it’s PMS,” Seungri muttered as he stared at his hyung’s retreating back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dara’s phone vibrated. She took it out while wiping her sweat after going back and forth while doing errands given by Gee Eun. The text was from TOP.

 

TOP: I heard from Seungri. Don’t worry. GD isn’t entirely blaming you. Tomorrow you’ll be friends again.

 

Dara rolled her eyes. With how busy she was, she momentarily forgot about it and TOP just had to remind her. Angrily, she began to type on her phone.

 

Dara: I DON’T CARE. AS LONG AS HE’S STILL PAYING ME, I WON’T CARE IF WE’RE FRIENDS OR NOT. IT’S EVEN BETTER IF WE STAY FOREVER ENEMIES. GEEZ, HIM AND HIS SCARF.

 

Dara pressed send. After two hours, the show will start and she heard from the staff that Jiyong’s condition was getting worse. She could shrug it off for the whole evening but guilt was slowly biting on her. She chewed down on her lip and sighed.

 

“It was my fault,” she whispered as realization dawned on her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After three hours, the concert was done. When Jiyong stepped on stage, he still had some voice left so he was still able to perform live but not without lots of off-keys and cracking of his voice. However, for tomorrow, he was sure he needs to lip-synch as he didn’t have the voice right now.

 

As he went down and gave hi-fives and congratulations to all the hardworking staffs behind the concert, his eyes were scanning for one particular person. When he didn’t see her, he initially shrugged it off.

 

However, even when they got to the hotel, he didn’t see her among their staffs. He was starting to wonder. But he remembered something.

 

I was supposed to be angry. Why am I worrying about her? He thought as he made his way to his hotel room.

 

In their room…

 

“I haven’t seen Dara since before the show, have you?” Daesung opened up while they were already resting.

 

“I’ve seen her during the first half though, while GD was having his solo stage. She was watching him,” Taeyang said. “I didn’t see her since.”

 

“Do you think she got lost in the concert hall?” Daesung asked.

 

“YAH! Don’t say that,” Jiyong scolded with his hoarse voice. He was just listening to their conversation, acting as if he was just doing his own thing by the sofa.

 

“Geez, I was just asking,” Daesung said, bemused. He then plopped himself to the bed, planning to call the night off.

 

“Seriously though, where is she?” Taeyang pressed.

 

“What’s with you if you can’t see her anywhere though?” Jiyong asked, facing the older guy.

 

“Geez, I was just asking,” Taeyang repeated what Daesung said.

 

“Let’s change the topic before he explodes,” Daesung whispered to Taeyang.

 

“If he does, I’m going to transfer to Seungri and TOP’s room,” Taeyang whispered back.

 

“Tag me along before he breathes out fire,” Daesung said.

 

Suddenly, Jiyong stood up and faced them. The two cowered in fear thinking that it would be the end of them. Daesung was even counting down while planning to run towards the door the moment he counts down to one. However, Jiyong just his heel and left the room, while slamming the door shut. Daesung and Taeyang looked at each other.

 

“It’s your fault,” Taeyang said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

 

“What?! Why? I was just looking for Dara,” Daesung said panicking.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Jiyong stood in front of the door of some of the staff’s hotel room where Dara was supposed to be at at the moment as well. However, he had been standing there for ten minutes without actually doing anything. His hand had been in midair, battling with himself whether to knock or not.

 

“If I was to knock, what shall I say then?” this had been troubling him as well, being the cause of him being frozen on his spot at the moment.

 

However, after a few seconds, the door flew open.

 

“Oh, Jiyong-ssi, what are you doing?” a blanching staff asked him. She was sweating profusely, holding her phone close to her ear. “Do you need something?”

 

Jiyong saw what was happening behind the staff where they were talking in urgent tones. They seemed to have noticed him too so they stopped and just stared at him and the staff by the door. “What’s going on?” he asked.

 

“Uhm, nothing. Just… one of the staff isn’t here yet.”

 

His heart unexpectedly started thumping inside his chest as if he was getting nervous. “Who’s missing?”

 

She hesitated for a while but sputtered, “Daesung’s cousin, Dara… the one you recommended to be in our staff. We were going to look for her. She had been MIA for hours. One of the staffs said she saw her going out of the concert hall during the concert.”

 

His eyes widened and he felt air knocked out of his chest. Her words kept ringing inside his ears along with the hard thumping of his heart on his chest.

 

“Is Daesung still awake? We’re going to tell him about his cousin,” the staff said.

 

“No,” he said firmly.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I mean, we can’t tell him. He’s asleep. We should not disturb him,” he said.

 

“Okay then. We’re going to look for her ourselves. She’s not answering her phone,” she said.

 

“I’m coming with you,” he said.

 

“Pardon?” she asked, shocked at his words. “You can’t. You have to rest for tomorrow’s concert. Besides, you’re sick. It’s snowing outside and listen to your voice. It’s barely recognizable,” she said. “We have to go,” she said passing by him. He just stared at her and the other staffs who decided to help look for her.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Jiyong was walking the streets while the snow fell on his shoulders and head. He didn’t have the time to go back to his room to properly cover himself with thicker clothing. He only had a hoodie over his thin shirt and a pair of pants. He was even just walking with the hotel slippers. At least he was wearing socks.

 

His thoughts were filled with worry over Dara, where she was, and why she was missing.

 

“It’s probably my fault,” he muttered while looking through every corner of the streets. There were only a few people walking by the streets and the only open establishments were night clubs. He avoided those places as there might be people who would recognize him. But even that worry was pushed away to the back of his mind. A few people who passed by him recognized him already but he didn’t notice.

 

“Dara, where are you?” he whispered as he walked by a crowded night club. He didn’t even notice he just went to the avoided place.

 

“It’s GD!” one female fan said.

 

He looked behind him as she saw a few women running towards him. His initiative told him to run like what he usually did when fans see him walking around town. And so he did.

 

The chilly wind that gushed against his skin made his skin crawl in coldness. After a few twists and turns, he was able to get away from the fans. He hugged himself as he leaned on the wall of a closed store. It was getting colder and he was starting to cough.

 

However, he didn’t even worry about those things. He just looked away hoping that Dara would appear magically right in front of his eyes.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Dara walked along the park as she rubbed her hands on her arms. She was feeling cold even through her thick clothes. She hastened her pace as she looked for somewhere to sit because she had been walking around for more than an hour looking for the right direction to the hotel. She tried asking for directions but people either didn’t give her a glance as they looked like they were hurrying to go home or they didn’t understand her. She couldn’t speak Japanese for Pete’s sakes.

 

After a while, she found the place she had been looking for after she gave up looking for the hotel. She quickly ran to it as if her feet didn’t ache and wiped away the collecting snow and sat on it.

 

She held on to the chains and kicked on the ground to move herself but upon realizing it was too cold to play, she gave up and just stopped. She looked down at the bag on her lap and smiled.

 

“I hope he’ll like this,” she whispered as she took a peek on the thing inside. She then looked around her. The place was deserted. Of course, it was past eleven, perhaps even almost midnight. She couldn’t tell. She didn’t have a watch. Her phone was off as its battery got drained from calling her staffs for help. She figured they were busy with the concert that they didn’t hear their phones ringing.

 

The expression on her face changed. “I’m lost. Will someone find me?” she whispered. She then looked down at the bag on her lap. “Will you find me?” she sighed deeply and stared at the snow falling. “Are you even looking for me?”

 

 

-

 

 

 

a/n:

i would like to apologize for the very very slow updates. T-T i won't give excuses but i'll try to fasten the pace. "try" is the key word everyone.