*Cough* *Cough*

 

“Ugh, hyung! Let’s go to the hospital now!” Seungri pulled Jiyong’s arm.

 

“I hate hospitals,” Jiyong said briefly. “Now where’s our food?”

 

As if on cue, the door opened and Dara came in with lots of bags of food. Daesung, Taeyang, and Seungri were talking between themselves, laughing at their jokes, while Jiyong was staring up at Dara. TOP stared at Jiyong and then at Dara. Dara, as if she was a waitress, served the foods on the table quietly, avoiding Jiyong’s gaze.

 

The BIGBANG boys were too tired to even go down to the hotel lobby where they served buffet and just wanted some nice fast-food.

 

“Anyway, Jiyong-hyung, can you tell me why I found Taeyang-hyung and Daesung-hyung on our room’s floor, sleeping like a homeless beggar this morning? I kept asking them but they don’t answer,” Seungri asked.

 

TOP looked at him expectantly as well while Taeyang looked away and Daesung looked up at Dara.

 

“Well, Dar—“

 

“Ah, do you want juice?!” Dara interrupted.

 

“Dara, your voice is as hoarse as Jiyong-hyung,” Seungri commented and then laughed. “What, were you together last night in the cold, winter night until both of you got sick?” he asked, laughing at his own joke.

 

Jiyong and Dara looked at each other and then away. TOP furrowed his brows. Seungri’s laughter eventually faded as he stared at both of them.

 

“Is that what happened last night?” Daesung whispered to Taeyang.

 

“How would I know?” Taeyang whispered back.

 

“Dara, you can get out now,” Jiyong said.

 

Dara nodded as she hurriedly stepped out of the room, feeling relieved as soon as she was out of their sight.

 

Meanwhile…

 

“You call her by her name now,” TOP noticed.

 

“She calls me by my name as well,” Jiyong said, quite smug, and then eyed the older guy. “What does she call you?”

 

“What?” TOP asked, not seeing the sense on his question.

 

“WAIT! I’m confused. Is there something between you and Dara?” Seungri asked.

 

Jiyong just remained silent as he started digging on to his food.

 

“YAH! Silence means yes, you know!”

 

“Sorry, can’t talk. Hoarse voice,” he said briefly as he went back to chowing down his food.

 

“UWAAAAA! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” Daesung screamed as he threw away the pillow which he used to cover his mouth. “JIYONG AND DARA SPENT THE NIGHT TOGETHER IN OUR ROOM THAT’S WHY HE KICKED ME AND TAEYANG-HYUNG OUT!”

 

Seungri and TOP looked incredulously at Jiyong who was muttering a string of curses towards Daesung under his breath.

 

A mischievous smile spread on Seungri’s lips. “Then, I guess, the hoarseness of her voice came from what you did last night, eh?” he asked, his brows raising and falling repeatedly, annoyingly. “Did it come from the many times she screamed for your name?”

 

Jiyong didn’t miss a second and repeatedly hit Seungri’s head with the nearest plate he could get his hands on, while Daesung kept on apologizing to him while praying for his life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Day 76

 

“It’s true, I saw her with my own eyes.”

 

“You must have been still half-asleep.”

 

“No, I can’t be mistaken. I really saw them. If I could have, I would have taken a photo of them coming out of his room.”

 

“Then, she must have been just delivering something to him, or Taeyang, or Daesung, her cousin? Duh? Have you ever thought of those possibilities?”

 

“But I saw Taeyang and Daesung coming out of TOP and Seungri’s room. They were still half-asleep then when I saw them so I’m guessing they slept there.”

 

“What are you gossiping about this early in the morning?” Jiyong arrived at the practice room where the staffs were also gathered together along with the dancers.

 

“Err, noth—“

 

“She’s spreading rumors about you and Dara-unnie. She said she saw her coming out of your room when we were in Japan,” the other said.

 

“NO! I was just tell—“ she got cut off when Jiyong glared at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to tell it to them but I have been bearing it for a while now and I just had to let it all out.”

 

“Jiyong, tell her it’s not true. She was gone that night right? How can she come out of your ro—“

 

“It’s true,” Jiyong cut her off.

 

The room fell silent as all of the people inside stared at him with their wide eyes and open mouths. In a few seconds, Seungri and Daesung arrived.

 

“Ooh, what’s this tense atmosphere?” Seungri asked as he noticed the silence of the room.

 

“Daesung here can testify. Taeyang can too but he’s not here yet,” Jiyong said, putting his arm over Daesung’s shoulder.

 

The staffs then laughed. “You must be kidding us right? Or… or… there must be a reason right?”

 

“Yes, there is. I am dating her,” Jiyong said.

 

“Dating who?” Daesung asked.

 

“I am dating Dara. We’ve been dating for more than two months now.”

 

“EEEEEHHHHHHH?????!!!!!”

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

“WHAT?!” Dara burst out, standing up from her seat. “WHY DID YOU TELL THEM THAT?!”

 

“I wanted them to shut up,” Jiyong said as he finished up his dinner that night.

 

“You could have just told them the truth.”

 

“You think they would understand?” he asked her.

 

Dara was silenced. She just stared at him. To be honest, she was confused as them if he would be telling the truth. Why would Jiyong bring her in his room? Why would he look for her, be worried for her, be good to her?

 

These past days, he had been insisting for her to sleep in the same room as him. She said no, of course. Why would she? She was a lady, a chaste one at that. She didn’t want to spend every single night with him.

 

“There’s nothing to see anyway. And you’re not my type,” he had said that night.

 

The least that they agreed on was for her to sleep on the floor. However, to Dara’s surprise, every morning, she would find Jiyong out beside her.

 

“Jiyong, this could get out of hand. What if your sasaengs would go after me?”

 

“That will never happen. The YG staff is trustworthy enough.”

 

“BUT WHAT IF?!”

 

“You’ll do fine. Just use that… whatever technique you have on the sasaengs,” Jiyong said as he stood up from his chair and dismissed the subject, leaving Dara gritting her teeth.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Day 78

 

At Tokyo…

 

TOP: Is it true?

 

Dara: That you can’t sneeze with your eyes open or it’ll hurt? Yes.

 

TOP: I’m talking about you and Jiyong.

 

Dara sighed furiously. This charade had been going on since the day before and she didn’t like it one bit. The staffs were giving her a cold shoulder and everyone kept their distance from her. It was only Gee Eun who didn’t change and even showed her support for their ‘relationship’, even saying that she was happy for her. Dara was feeling guiltier at the kindness Gee Eun was showing her.

 

It was an after-concert dinner among BIGBANG, the band, the dancers, and the staffs. BIGBANG treated them out to a delicious dinner. Dara was of course, beside Jiyong because the latter insisted. TOP was right in front of Dara, so she wondered why he had to send her a message to ask about her and Jiyong. She didn’t bother replying and just rolled her eyes.

 

“Here, try this. This is yummy,” Jiyong suddenly said. Dara looked beside her as he held on his chopsticks a piece of meat.

 

“Eh, I can feed myself,” she said awkwardly, trying to grab the chopsticks from him but he pulled them back.

 

“Let me.”

 

“No, I have a capable hand which can feed me, so you don’t have to—“

 

“They’re watching,” he whispered so low, but she heard it.

 

Dara peeked behind Jiyong and saw the BIGBANG boys expectantly staring at them. She looked behind her as she saw every one of the staff members staring at them as well. She turned to Jiyong and whispered, “Why do you have to pull me into this?”

 

“Say ah…” Jiyong said, smiling at her.

 

She did and he fed her. After that, the noise within the restaurant came back as everyone continued their chat as if they just stopped momentarily to watch the “couple”.

 

Dara chewed on the food as if it wasn’t chewable and was as hard as rocks. She was having a hard time and just stared down at her fists on her lap.

 

“Isn’t it yummy?”

 

Dara perked up and smiled at Jiyong and nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

 

“WAAA, I never thought I would see this day coming. Please have a good relationship, hyung!” Seungri cheered. “Come on; let’s offer a toast to this new couple.”

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

That night, in his hotel room, Dara was sitting by the sofa, the television on but her eyes were glued on her phone.

 

Suddenly, she stiffened and stood up from her seat the same time Jiyong called for her.

 

“What?” Dara turned to him, a little bit irritated.

 

“I’m taking a shower. Can you prepare my clothes?” he asked nicely.

 

However, as a response, Dara ran towards his luggage and pulled out random clothes and literally threw them into the bed, leaving Jiyong speechless. She went into her own luggage and pulled out a hoodie and hurriedly wore them over her head.

 

“What’s the hurry? Are you going out?” Jiyong asked.

 

“Yes. TOP invited me to a drink on the hotel bar,” she said. She fixed her hair and said, “This is a first. Oh my,” she said a wide smile on her face.

 

Jiyong’s eyes squinted on her. “You’re going out with a guy even when you are already dating me?”

 

Dara was on the door but stopped and turned to him. “Pfft, you and I both know this is fake dating anyway.”

 

“Yes, but TOP doesn’t.”

 

Dara shrugged. “Can’t you just give me this piece of happiness for me?”

 

“Aish. You still like TOP that much? I thought you said…”

 

“Yes, that’s true,” Dara said, fidgeting on her spot. “I don’t like him.”

 

“Dara…” he called with a warning tone.

 

“Fine. I have a small crush on him, alright? Just small,” she said, gesturing with her fingers. “Anyway, bye. I’ll be back before midnight.”

 

And Dara left. Jiyong just stood there, not able to respond to her after she said she had a small crush on TOP. Why wasn’t he able to respond though? He could have snapped an insult like “He wouldn’t like a stick-thin girl like you” or “What kind of a guy would TOP be if he would fall for you?” like he always did. However, at that time, it was like his brain froze and ceased all functions.

 

He just stood there, wondering why.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

Dara laughed aloud at what TOP shared, as if she wasn’t a lady at all. She didn’t care. Being with TOP made her at ease. TOP was really comfortable to talk to. They had been sending each other messages but they hadn’t really hung out in real life, like go out to drink soju or a cup of coffee.

 

The hotel bar just had a few customers. Everyone else went back to their rooms or homes with only a couple of customers staying to drink or party. No one recognized TOP as he was in disguise and they were sitting at the farthest table with TOP’s back facing the crowd.

 

“Seriously, you’re funny. You don’t look like it, but you really are,” Dara said, giggling.

 

“You don’t know me that much yet then. Even my fans know I am always this funny,” TOP said.

 

“Then I would like to get to know you more, Mr. Choi Seunghyun,” Dara said. She was absolutely drunk at that moment because how could she even say that in front of her crush right?

 

“I would like to get to know more about you too, Sandara Park,” a voice said behind TOP, causing the latter to cautiously turn. His eyes immediately widened but in a second, he recovered and a smirk replaced his once wide-opened mouth.

 

“Dara, you’re drunk,” the person said again to Dara who had her head resting on the table.

 

“No, I am not, Jiyong,” Dara said as she looked up, giggling a little. After a while, she became sober as if water was splashed on her face. Her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. “JIYONG?!”

 

“Come on, let’s go back to our room,” he said, emphasizing the word ‘our’ in front of TOP’s face. He grabbed on to her arm and pulled her towards him.

 

“No, Jiyong. I haven’t finished yet my drink,” Dara said, trying to go back to her seat.

 

“No, we’re going back to our room.”

 

“Can’t you see that she doesn’t want to go back yet?” TOP interrupted.

 

Jiyong glared at him. Unconsciously, his grip on Dara’s arm tightened.

 

“OUCH! Jiyong!”

 

“Let her go,” TOP said, pealing Dara off Jiyong’s grip. “Can’t you see she’s hurting?”

 

“OUCH! TOP!” Dara complained as well because TOP’s grip was also tight.

 

“What right do you have to say those words to my girlfriend?” Jiyong asked.

 

Hearing this, Dara gripped on his sleeve. “Jiyong…”

 

TOP snorted. “Your girlfriend?” he smiled and shook his head. “I know what’s happening here Jiyong. You can’t fool me.”

 

Jiyong furrowed his brows.

 

“You’re not really dating her,” TOP said.

 

Jiyong’s hands then turned to fists. Instead of having a rash reaction, he grabbed on to Dara’s arm and brought her out of the bar.

 

 

 

 

-

 

 

 

 

After helping Dara when she vomited in the toilet, Jiyong received a message from TOP. After reading his message for the umpteenth times, he stared at Dara’s sleeping form and then back to his phone’s screen.

 

TOP: Seeing that you rushed to the bar to take Dara back, I’m only sure of one thing and that is, you already have fallen in love with your personal maid.

 

Jiyong could only shake his head. “Impossible.”