Dara groaned as she slowly began to come to. Her head hurt and everything was all fuzzy. She sat up and blinked a few times before finally regaining her vision. Everything around her was dark with a few lights overhead. It then dawned on her that she was in someone’s room on someone’s bed. Anxiety began to build up inside her. She looked down and sighed in relief when she saw that her dress was still intact. Suddenly, a familiar pair of dark eyes flashed in her mind. “Jiyong…”

    “You know our leader by his real name?” Dara jumped when a boy suddenly appeared in front of her.

    “Wh-where did you come from? And where am I?”

    “I was here the entire time...GD told me to keep watch over you. And as for where you are...you are at YG Headquarters. You’re safe here.”

    “Y-YG? You mean the GANG?!”

    Panic settled in as Dara looked around the dark room, desperately searching for a means of escape. Maybe she could surprise him and attack him and then make a run for it. Dara knew about YG, had heard stories about the notorious gang and their cold-blooded leader. Yet...the boy said she was...safe? “You don’t have to be afraid. No one is going to hurt you here.”

    “How do I know that?” Dara eyed the boy suspiciously.

    “Because if we wanted to kill you, we would’ve already done so. You are no threat to us and therefore we have no reason to kill you.”

    “Right…”

    Dara relaxed a bit but didn’t let down her guard. The boy took a seat in front of her. “By the way, my name is V.I. But you can call me Seungri.” He held his hand out to Dara.

    “I-I’m Dara.”

    They shook hands briefly and then sat in an uncomfortable silence. Seungri scanned Dara from head to toe, wondering what she had to do with GD. GD had never once brought a girl home, even when they went to the club. So, who was Dara to him? Just then, the door opened and the man in question stepped into the room, his expression guarded and hands tucked into his pockets.

    He strode over to Dara and stopped just a few feet away. Dara leaned back defensively, scared that he might pull out a gun and shoot her next. Then again, he did bring her here and saved her life. “So, why did you bring me here?” She finally asked.

    “Because you fainted. And it’s to repay you for helping me last time. Are you ok?”

    “I’m fine. But why didn’t you just take me back to my apartment?”

    GD shrugged. “I thought it’d be safe here than for you to stay in your apartment alone. It’s quite dangerous for a girl like you to live alone in a city like this.”

    “I can take care of myself just fine actually. But thanks for the concern.”

    GD nodded and turned to walk out of the room. Dara stood up suddenly and clasped her hands together nervously. “Jiyong!”

    Seungri winced, knowing GD hated people calling him that. But GD merely just froze...why did he give her his real name? He should’ve lied to her. GD clenched his hands into fists and sighed. “What is it?” His words came out harsher than he intended.

    “I-I just...um...wanted to thank you for saving me. You didn’t have to do that. But thank you.”

    GD furrowed his brows and raised a hand to his chest. What was this feeling he was feeling? It felt...warm. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt his heart beat. But he squashed the feeling, he couldn’t afford to feel. “Don’t worry about it. Just do me a favor…”

    “Anything, Jiyong…” Dara took a step forward.

    He stiffened. “Don’t...don’t call me that.”

    “Don’t call you what?”

    “J-Ji…”

    “Jiyong?”

    “Yes! Don’t call me that…”

    Dara frowned in confusion. Why didn’t he want her to call him that? It was his name wasn’t it? Dara was always taught to call someone by their proper name. She didn’t understand why he hated his own name so much. Jiyong was a name name. “Jiyong…”

    GD whipped around and stormed to her, grabbed her shoulders roughly. His eyes were like daggers, piercing her heart and striking fear into her very soul. Dara whimpered a little when he shook her slightly. “Don’t EVER call me that again! Do you understand me? I don’t want to hear that ing name come from your mouth again, got it?! Jiyong is DEAD! He’s no more! So ing stop!”

    “I-I’m sorry…”

    GD glared at her before releasing her. Dara fell onto the ground and hung her head. He just stared at her. A part of him felt guilty for yelling at her like that but the cold, heartless part of him told him to walk away. He couldn’t afford to get close to this girl. Meeting her two times was enough...if it should happen a third time, then that means it was fate for her to be with him in some shape or form. But he couldn’t allow that to happen…

    So, he turned around and stopped next to Seungri. Seungri nodded at his leader and best friend. “Watch over her...I’m going to the office.”

    “Of course. Take care, Boss.”

    GD then walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Seungri sighed and walked over to Dara, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s ok. You didn’t know…”

    “Why...why does he hate his name so much? I-I didn’t mean to offend him.”

    “It’s not that. It’s just that...GD is a broken man, Dara. Kwon Jiyong doesn’t exist anymore to him. He died a long time ago. GD is cold and heartless and he feels nothing. That is the kind of person you need to be when you’re the leader of YG. He can’t afford to get close to anyone from the outside world. Jiyong is a link to a painful past, a past that he’s strived so hard to forget.”

    “Wh-what happened to him?” Dara slowly lifted up her head.

    “I...it’s not my place to tell you. The only thing I can say is that GD is a good man. Yes, he can be brutal and scary but he’s a good man. His heart is always in the right place and his intentions are always noble even if it doesn’t seem that way. He does things to protect others that mean the most to him. In other words, you must mean something to him or else he would not go through all this trouble to make sure you’re safe or save you.”

    “Does...he hate me for calling him Jiyong?”

    Seungri smiled slightly and shook his head. “I don’t think he could ever hate you. The fact that he didn’t just shoot you dead for call him that, says so. In the past, anyone who slipped up and called him by his real name was shot. He spared you, meaning, he could never hate you. GD doesn’t give second chances. The fact he gave you one, says everything.”

    While Seungri and Dara were talking, GD was watching over them from the monitors in his office. His eyes were trained on Dara, watching her expressions. There was something about her that took him off guard. She was different. Seungri was right. If she were just any girl, she would’ve been dead by now but he spared her. Yet, he couldn’t help but ask himself why? What was it about this girl that made him feel the way he did or act the way he did?

    He sighed and leaned his head against his hands, his elbows propped up on the desk. “It must be lonely for him…” Dara’s voice caused him to lift his head up.

    “What do you mean?”

    “I...I can see the pain and hatred in his eyes. If what people tell me is true, the leader of YG was a man with a heart so cold that even shut out his own family. Looking into his eyes, I see that. But I also see that he’s lonely. He’s scared and sad. I get what you mean when you say he’s broken man…”

    “He’s...very broken…but that’s why we’re here. We support him and we stand by him through everything and anything.”

    “And that’s good. But have you ever tried to help him gather himself back together?”

    Seungri stared at her in confusion. GD mimicked his expression. What did she mean by that? Dara just shook her head and smiled a small smile. “When someone is broken, you have to try to put them back together again. You have to build them up when they fall.”

    “Yes, but what’s the point of building someone up when they’re probably just going to fall again?”

    “Because...each time you build them up, they’ll become stronger. If you stay broken, that’s all you’ll ever be. And life is all about building yourself up again when someone knocks you down. You have to get back up and show them that you’re not as weak as they think you are. Being cold and putting on a brave face isn’t strength, acts as a shield to protect the coward inside.”

    Did...she just call me weak? GD thought incredulously but listen on nevertheless. “If he wants to show the world his true power, then he has to build himself up. Killing people and making them fear him isn’t going to cut it. If he wants real power, then he has to make them respect him. True strength is when you can pick yourself up again even when you ultimately fail.”

    GD stared at the monitors, his forehead creased and face masked with confusion. Dara’s words seemed to stab at him like a knife. But he’d only known the life he’s lived for the past fifteen years. He didn’t know how to be any other way. Hyun Suk had trained him to be a lethal, heartless killer and said that it was his father’s compassion that was his ultimate downfall. It was because he was selfish and cared too much. GD didn’t want to be like his father…

    He thought he had everything figured out. Being cold and merciless was the only thing he knew how to do. He didn’t know how to be NICE or kind or even smile. THIS was who he was. He was vacant, cold emotionless, and cruel. There was no turning back from that. But then there was Dara…a girl so timid and small but acted so boldly. SHE was strong and SHE was the a fighter.

    GD looked at Dara again. And the smallest, faintest smile curved up upon his lips without him even knowing.

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How was that? :) Will Dara be able to put this broken Leader back together? Can she do it? What do you think?"

Hehehe. Hope you enjoyed this update! And please do comment and subcribe! Thank you so much to my subscribers and to those who comment. You guys ROCK! LOVE YOU!

- DragonSpirit