Hello people! I thank you for reading my story. It has been awhile. :) I wished to update here as soon as I can in the future. Enjoy! 

P.S No edits or of some sort. Peace!

Chapter 13:

"You told me you'd be constant like the stars

I woke up knowing that reality's just too harsh

Because I believed when you said you will stay

Then just a few clouds appeared and you went away"
 

Days went by without a single trace of Donghae's presence. It was as if he did not show up weeks ago.

It was as if he died again.

My heart is bursting with deep gratitude to the people who were with me for the days I was so down. It was because of them I seldom thought of Donghae. Yet I still get paranoid with the thought of him showing up like a mushroom.

I was waiting for Jiyong outside the Student Government's office when I saw Jaejoong coming my way.

It is a mystery how he avoided me after our unfortunately fortunately meet up with Teddy oppa. I was thankful of course that he leave me be but I felt so powerful afterwards that I could make him stop knowing how thick his skull is.

And what makes it more interesting is that he made a 360 degrees change the next day.

He was a gentleman and speaks politely and he even behaved properly. He stops wearing flashy clothes and I must admit he looked appealing now than before.

He stopped right in front of me and adjusted his glasses.

"Hello, Dara. What are you doing here?" He then flashed me those white pearls.

"Jiyong's in there," I said, pointing out to the door of the office. "I'm waiting for him."

He nodded. "Alright. I got to go." Then he turned to leave.

Woah. That was short. Shorter than any talks I ever had with him. Though it's not that we talk a lot it's just that, I thought after all these past months, he would want to talk to me more.

Not that I was really expecting it but rather I thought he was doing the push-and-pull game.

Now that does not seem to be a good way to elaborate it.

A few minutes later Jiyong went out of the office with slightly disheveled hair and strained look.

"Are you okay?" I said as soon as he was near me.

He tried his best to smile but the stress on his face is a give-away already. "Yeah, I am fine. Let's go?"

I nod at him and we headed to his car.

When we got there, both of us became rooted on our spots. And it was as if in slow motion, Donghae turned around and came face to face to us. He had those pleading eyes when his eyes met mine. Immediately I walked to him and slapped him across his face. It was too fast that I wasn't able to think twice. My senses came back when I saw the mark of my hand on his cheeks.

He turned to look at me with a sad smile. "I guess I deserve that."

I tried to even out my breathing as I looked at him. The past few days I tried to picture out what I should do when I will be seeing Donghae again. But all of those preparations come in vain as I have done the opposite...I was not in control of my self.

Donghae looked over my shoulder and that's when I remembered I have Jiyong with me. I looked around and I saw him with a straight face.

"I'll just get in in the car." Without waiting for me to speak, I watched Jiyong as he walked towards his side of the car. Which leaves me with Donghae.

"Can we talk? Please."

I nodded as reply. Donghae sighed in relief and smiled.

We've decided to talk at the botanical garden of our school. This is the place where people with geeky powers to identify plants usually go to. But at this moment, it seems like it would just be me and Donghae.

We settled at the benches, facing each other. No one said a word for awhile. He was jittering, like he usually do when he gets nervous. From time to time, I saw him sneaked a peak at me, as if I could not notice.

When I got tired hearing... nothing. I looked at him using my I-give-a--if-you're-wasting-my-time-look. "I thought you wanted to talk? Why is it I can not hear a word from you?"

Hearing what I said, you might have thought it should be taken just as how you basically understood it.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say. "Mianhae, Dara-ah." It was tiring to hear it again and again that I became aggravated just by the mere mention of the word. Even though he looked helpless crying his eyes out, I just can't give him any sympathy.

"What the are you apologizing for, Donghae?" It was a mystery how I was able to calm my voice even though I am raging deep inside. I felt thousands of horses stomping my heart.

He lowered his head even more and cried. I sighed, not wanting to do anything with him anymore, I decided to leave.

Donghae caught up my hand as I was trying to walk away. I looked back and he was not crying anymore.

"You really want to know?"

It took me sometime to respond as I was caught off guard with the manner of his speaking. He sounded calm already. I forcefully took my arm from him. He looked hurt but I shrugged the thought away.

"Yes." I managed to say without choking.

The past days I kept on searching for the answers but at that moment when he said he is willing to tell me exactly what happened three years ago, I was scared. It was building inside me that I was even more afraid that I will be running away from the truth before he could even say it.

He breathed and he looked at me sternly. "Fine. But let me ask you one thing," he paused as if analyzing me, like the way he did years ago to know if I am willing to cooperate. "Please do not interrupt me while talking."

And as if he knew my answer, he pulled me back to the parking lot and in to his car. Without a word I obliged. Ridiculous it may sound but I still trust him.

He drove and I sat on the passenger seat without asking anything. I was surprised after I realized where he was taking me.

He was taking me back to the place where his supposed accident happened.

Donghae parked the car at the side of the road. He turned to look at me and he gave me a heartwarming smile. Oh how I loved that smile. It is always a reminder for me that things will work out just fine.

Hae took something from his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet and handed it out to me. I frowned when it was a picture of me and him at some party I could not remember. I was wearing a pink flowing dress and Hae's tie matched the color of my dress. We looked happy and if I may add...in love. We are hugging each other in the picture while looking at the camera. It's funny, now that I realized, how I could attend parties before without even caring to know who is the celebrant.

"I know you might not remember what happened on that day."

I scoffed at the picture. "Yeah, it was taken like I was nine."

"That day became the start of everything."

Frowning, I asked, "What do you mean?"

He sadly looked at me before he averted his gaze to the window. "The owner of the house is the head of a Mafia organization. He is the best friend of my father."

I waited for him to continue when he paused. There's tension in the air and I know I am not the only one feeling it.

"My dad and that man are childhood friends. Later on, during their college years, they met your dad."

I wanted so much to ask a lot of things but nonverbally I agreed not to interrupt him. So I did. I kept my questions to myself.

"Before they met your dad, they vowed to let their first born marry each other."

I laughed, a bitter one, which made him look at me. This is some kind of sick joke, isn't it? It is getting obvious without him telling the rest of the story. But as martyr as I am, I wanted to know more. I wanted so much to hear the rest of the story.

"Go on," I said when he stopped.

Hae took a deep breath."I was born the eldest and the first born of that Mafia head is a son too."

So...I was wrong?

"But the second child, which he had from his mistress, is a girl. Which makes her a firstborn from another woman."

My heart constricted in pain. So, my assumption is not wrong. I could not bear to look at Donghae anymore. I do not want to break down and let him see me cry. I am a changed woman, aren't I? I should not cry anymore. I promised, over and over again that I won't cry for the same reason.

I cleared my throat. "Can I ask you something?" I said in a small voice.

"What is it, tokki?"

Tokki. I felt nostalgic when he called me again with that nickname.

"How was my father related to what happened?"

He tensed and lowered his gaze. The sight of him tensing and lowering his gaze meant that he does not want to talk about it.

"Hae," I said softly.

When he looked up to meet my gaze, his eyes were b with tears.

"Because your dad is included in the deal. You will get married with the first son with that d*ckhead," he said though gritted teeth as tears keep flowing to his cheeks.

As if by instinct, I hugged him close to my heart. At that moment I realized I was not totally mad at him just because he did not show up for the past years, it was more of I missed him so bad that when I thought I lost him forever, my heart was buried with his fake funeral.

I hugged him as if it was the last time. He has been through a lot. We have been through a whole lot. I may not know everything but one thing is for sure, this is an insane set-up.

"I am sorry, Dara-ah," he kept on sobbing. his hair, I consoled him saying it's fine. A lie it is, yes, because it isn't really okay, but what can I say other than that?

Our sentimental moment was disturbed when my phone rang. I released Donghae from the hug as I took the phone from my bag. I almost cursed when I saw Jiyong's name in the screen. Just at that moment I remembered Jiyong who might still be waiting for me. Gosh, I completely forgot about him.

I looked over to my shoulder and saw Donghae frowning at the phone's screen. He looked embarrassed when I saw him peeking over my phone but completely recovered as he sternly looked at me straight in the eyes.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" His last words were before he turned the ignition on.