[Dara's POV]

Knock knock

I stood patiently, playing with my toes waiting for Jiyong to open his door... If he really was there.

Cold wind brushed past me as I attempted to knock once again. But no response.

Apparently the news before was a lie, right?

And even though he really was here, It's not like he would want to meet me again anyway...

I sighed. Since when am I this depressed?

"Yes, can I help --oh,-- Dara?" Jiyong yelped, snapping me out of my short daydream. He stared at me from my head to toes, blinked twice, then he pinched his own arm. "Owww"

I chuckled at his behavior "What are you doing, oppa?"

"This is really you..." He trailed off and his eyes became soft of a moment, but he got a hold on himself as he snapped "What are you doing here?"

My heart dropped at his sudden change of attitude. Oh, well, no wonder why he became like this... This is my own fault for hurting him... Maybe this is some kind of his self-defense, you know.

I smiled softly "I'm kind of curious about your whereabouts for this past month" I paused "You left with no trace. Mind to share the story with--"

"Jiyong-ah, who's that?" A woman's high-pitched voice interrupted me, and in less than a second came a beautiful girl next to Jiyong. The same girl I saw earlier in the news.

"I--her-- Uhh, Jieun this is Da- Park Sandara" Jiyong stuttered. "A childhood friend. Dara, this is Kim Jieun, owner of The Secret Company"

I forced my smile to stay at its place. "Annyeong, I'm Sandara" and I'd love to ask, who are you and what are you doing at Jiyong oppa's house at this kind of time?

"Oh! Annyeong Sandara-yah, I'm Jieun, nice to meet you" she smiled and turned to Jiyong. "Yah, why don't you let her in first? It's cold tonight for a girl like her! Such a man you are!"

Jiyong rolled his eyes "Of course, of course"

"Come in Sandara, I'll get some coffee for you two" Jieun grinned enthusiastically and lead me inside.

It feels funny to have a stranger leads me to get into the house I used to live in.

Jieun made me sit on the couch facing Jiyong, and she left to the kitchen, leaving an awkward silence lingered in the living room.

"So..." I started, playing with my fingers "...how have you been?"

"Good" he answered. I glanced at him for a moment to see his face wearing no expression.

"Have you been eating well?"

"Yes"

"Have you been meeting nice people?"

"Yeah, kind of"

"And you do like traveling to UK like that?"

"Neh"

"You do like her and you do hate me,right?"

"Yes--wait,what?-- NO!!!" Jiyong panicked as soon as he realized what he had said. It's kinda amusing to see him get panic like this... I know, I'm so mean, right? ㅋㅋㅋ But I can't help it... He's so cute when he's clueless...

"Oppa, calm down. I was just kidding" I waved my hand and let out a laugh "But now seriously, you haven't answered my question"

He indeed didn't get to answer my question. Because that Jieun girl interrupted us... =_= Where were you, oppa?

"Well.." He paused for a moment "She's nice and very smart for a girl her age, so I don't hate her," Then he frowned . "And I apparently don't hate you."

...

....

......

Huh?

Looks like he misunderstood what I was asking... I sighed as I decided to play along. He would be embarrassed if I told him that it wasn't that question I meant to ask -_-

"Uh huh? Jjinjja? I feel relieved to hear that, oppa!" I smiled widely "And besides, it looks like Jieun is a very good girl, I'm glad you meet nice people"

"Indeed. She's smart, nice, full of condiseration on her steps and... Yeah, gorgeous, you know what I'm saying"

My body went stiff at his statement. Of course, I should've known that he always could find someone who's better than me...

Ever heard of 'You don't know what you've got untill it's gone'? Geez. I didn't know that it was true.

"Did I miss something? You're not talking bad things about me, right? You're so dead if you do, Ji" Jieun's sweet voice suddenly interrupted, and a strong scent of coffee hit my nose. If we were not in this type of situation, I would've bugging her now with many questions about the coffee.

"What?! No, of course no. We're talking normal topics, stop with your over-self-confidence" Jiyong said as he tried to avoid Jieun's death glare.

I bowed down, trying to hide my teary eyes from their view. This is too much for me to handle... Seeing their closeness affects me more than what I expected...

"I-I guess I should go home now. It's late and I already know that Jiyong oppa is okay here. I'll take my leave, bye oppa, bye Jieun-sshi" I said quickly in one breath and run for the door before my sobs could broke, ignoring Jieun's whimper of disapointment and leaving Jiyong sat there in bafflement.

I plopped down on my fluffy bed, too tired already to do anything after all the crying. Babo... I just realized something important after I had lost it to someone else....

If Jiyong was only my brother's friend, I wouldn't be coming to his house everyday to look for him when he left. I won't be crying seeing his closeness with her. My heart won't cringe painfully at his harsh tones. I won't be having these feelings right now, the feel of longing for him, longing to walk school together with him, longing to argue with him, longing to bicker each other like we used to...

How stupid I am, for I just realized that I love him, I love Kwon Jiyong who had taken care for me since my brother left for his studies?

But, well, perhaps... This is the time to let go?

________________________________________

A/N:

Poor Dara TT__TT

Well, I must say that this story is getting closer to the end...