“She's not even pretty! Why was she offered a make-up ad?”

   “YG obviously favors her. Gave her a solo when there are other, more deserving, members who should've been given one .”

   “It's always CL CL CL! The cameraman was paid to focus on her.”

   “DaBomZy ftw!”

     She wiped the tears flowing down her face. Through the years, Chaerin's learned not to take to heart the negative comments thrown at her. The name-calling and the bashing had died down, only to come back in full-force years later. Forcing herself to stop scrolling through the comments any further, she tossed her phone aside and reached for the pen and paper on the desk beside her. 

     This was what she should've been doing minutes ago, writing lyrics. She had thought she wanted to see what the fans were currently up to and get some inspiration from them, unfortunately, what she saw wasn't exactly inspirational.

     Chaerin started writing, imagining she was talking to the people who constantly told her she wasn't good enough, constantly blamed her and judged her.

I want to throw away everything in front of me
I want to scream out loud but

The only one to listen would be me
Along with the burning candle
There’s not much left to my heart
This beautiful house feels like prison
The tactless night sky is so beautiful

I wish you could be me
I wish I could be you
I wish you could feel it for just a day
Your heart
My heart

     She was on a roll, she had finished writing the lyrics in under ten minutes. Sighing in satisfaction, she leaned her head on the sofa and closed her tired eyes.

     Unknowingly, Youngdon entered the room minutes later. He held a photo tree on one hand, and a Caffe Latte on the other. Seeing Chaerin sprawled on the sofa, he dropped on his knees beside her, and stared into her peaceful sleeping form. It was then he noticed the trail of dry tears on her cheeks, she had been crying. Annoyed, he set down the tree and coffee on the desk and woke Chaerin up.

       “W-what?” she mumbled, shaking her head as if to clear all the sleepiness in her system, “Dony?”

     His gaze immediately softened when he was struck with the flash of vulnerability that crossed Chaerin's eyes, before she quickly masked her expression. 

       “You were crying.” Dony cupped her face, wiping her cheek with his thumb.

     She tensed a bit, she was surprised he knew. Chaerin wanted to lie, to hide everything from him. She didn't want to trouble him with her petty problems. But when she looked into his eyes, full of concern, a sob escaped from her lips.

       “Oh, love.” Dony wrapped his arms around Chaerin and she welcomed him, putting her arms around his neck.

     He knew Chaerin, knows she'd rather keep problems to herself, suffer on her own, than trouble anyone else with it. He would never forget, because that was the cause of their first argument months ago. He had heard her crying in the ladies' washroom when he came looking for her after dance practice. One minute she was scrolling through her phone and the next she was out the door. Dony had asked 'why' countless of times, he grew frustrated and annoyed, but she wouldn't budge, telling him to leave her alone. Until he was able to convince her that a couple shares one's burden with the other, no matter how hard. 

     Dony ran his fingers through her hair, she was still sobbing on his chest. He was just about to say something when she spoke, “Am I a bad person?” she asked, the broken tone of her voice did not go amiss. “No, you're not. You're far from that, Chae.” She didn't speak after that, but she cried even more.

     Suddenly, Dony realized why. Chaerin must've seen those nasty stuff about her. He should know, he looks his girlfriend up on the internet more than she does herself. When he sees rude comments and he's with her at that time, he would try his best to snatch her phone and block those people before she could see them. Most of the time, he was successful, other times, like this, he was not.

       “You do a lot for others, without thinking about yourself.” Dony said as he rubbed circles on her back, trying to calm her, “You're thoughtful and generous, you care for others genuinely. You keep trying your best, but you keep being misunderstood. In time, they'll know how beatiful you are, inside and out. And they'll learn to love you for you.” Chaerin turned in his arms, teary eyes staring up at him and a smile tugging at her lips.

     He couldn't resist and went to place a kiss on her forehead, “Lee Chaerin,” he wiped her tears again then he kissed her nose, “When you cry, my heart shatters into a million pieces. And when you smile, you make my heart whole again.” He gave her a lopsided grin and kissed her cheeks, “I love you, Chae. Don't ever forget that.” Finally, his lips met hers, tender and soft. It was a slow gentle kiss, the type that makes your heart flutter and your stomach fill with butterflies. When they pulled apart, Chaerin felt like crying again, Dony came just when she needed him. He was like her knight in shining armor.

     She continued staring at the man in front of her, suddenly, a lone tear escaped her eyes and Dony pouted, “And there I thought I had you.” She laughed and he joined her.

       “I love you Dony,” she said wholeheartedly, “and thank you.” 

     Dony's heart leapt and he smiled tenderly at her.

     Abruptly, he disentangled himself from her and stood up. Chaerin blinked in confusion.

       “I almost forgot why I was here in the first place.” he exclaimed and reached beside her. Chaerin followed and her brows shot up in surprise. “Happy 300 days!” Dony handed her the photo tree and Caffe Latte. She smiled at him. “You'll get the other gift back at your house, or mine. Doesn't really matter.” he kid and she choked on the drink. He laughed at her but immediately patted her back. 

      Sipping from the cool drink again, she studied some of the photos on the tree. There were those of her and Dony in the practice room, in the cafeteria, and in the gym, and other places in YG. But they were mostly candid shots of them. She grinned, Dony must've asked one of the dancers to take their photos inconspicuously.

       “I'm sorry, I forgot to get you a present.” Chaerin apologized, mentally slapping herself for not remembering. 

       “That's alright, just having you as my girlfriend is the best gift I could receive.” Chaerin blushed, Dony never ran out of cheesy yet sweet things to say to her. 

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                     It's sad how often people misjudge CL. 

                     Anyway, hope you liked it~ xoxo