♫ Whats up?
I know we haven't spoken for a while
But I was thinkin bout you
And it kinda made me smile ♫

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“Dara, Chaerin, this is Dong Youngbae. Youngbae this is my pretty girlfriend Dara Park and my cousin Lee Chaerin.” Minho, who was oblivious as to what his three companions were feeling, smiled cheerfully as he introduced us to his new friend, who also happens to be my ex-boyfriend.

I felt Chaerin's hand flew to hold mine tightly. I felt her stood up and initiated a handshake with Youngbae, as for me, I was rooted to my place unable to say anything. After shaking hands with Chaerin, the equally shocked Youngbae offered a hand to me. I hesitantly took his hand, not wanting to be rude since that would gain some confusion. Taking his warm hand against my cold one, I let out a small gasp that was only evident to me.

We all sat down and Chaerin was now sitting next to me while the two guys sat next to each other across us. Chaerin was still holding my hand under the table, giving it assuring squeezes every now and then whenever she sees Youngbae steal glances at me. Having a friend who knows you very well is really helpful in these kind of situations. The lads were already half way their food, while me and Chae were having second round of desserts over some coffee. I just played with my dessert, poking the poor cake with a fork when Minho took my hand and held it in place on the table. He was telling Youngbae about how we came about our relationship with Chaerin awkwardly adding some bits and bobs here and there to lessen the tension to which Minho wasn't aware of.

“Here Baby, open your mouth. This one tastes really nice.” Minho was still holding my hand while trying to feed me a share of his food.

“I'm stuffed, I can't even finish my cake.” He gave me a pout and I totally gave in, making him give me a smile of satisfaction. Minho is the kind of guy who's very affectionate, and he loves PDA.

After finishing our food, we started our way out of the restaurant. Minho tried to ring one of their drivers to come pick up his car and follow us to my apartment so he could drive my car instead, much to my dismay. I tried reasoning out with him, but as stubborn as he is, he had his way. Chaerin and Youngbae were sat on the back seat of my car while Minho drove, with me on the passenger seat. Like I mentioned before, this guy loves PDA, and so he took my hand and put it on his lap while he drove, only letting go of it whenever he shifts the gear. If it had been the usual day, with just the two of us or even with Chaerin in tow, I wouldn't be feeling so awkward and somehow guilty. But with Youngbae in the same car, I could feel my heart pound on my chest as if it wants to come out and run to the guy.

“You're unusually quiet today baby.” I was quietly wishing the red traffic light would turn green soon. I wanted to get to my apartment as soon as possible. The long 20-minute journey was added with another 3 agonizing minutes waiting for the traffic light to turn green.

“Let's see what we have here. This one seems like a nice playlist.” Minho was rummaging through few of my CD collections I kept in the car. When I recognized the writing on the disk, I badly wanted to reach out and stop him from putting it in, but stupid me didn't want to make a scene.

♫ Iyureul mollasseo, wae naega byeonhaenneunji
Hancham saenggakhaesseo, neowa mannan ihuro
Na byeonhan geot gata, aju manhi mariya
I norae deullini oh~ ♫

The first few lines of the song made me want to get out of the car and run to wherever, just far away from Youngbae. The CD was a playlist he gave to me on our last anniversary, with “Dara's Playlist” as the title- which was quite an uncreative name for a CD, but I still loved it. Aigoo~

“Unnie! I love this song. Isn't this Baby Baby by 4Men? You love this song so much, you keep playing it.” With Chaerin's shocking indirect confession, I looked back at her. Unfortunately for me, my eyes darted to Youngbae and our eyes met. I flinched and looked back on the main road.

Baby Baby was mine and Youngbae's song. Even though the content behind the lyrics were painful feelings, he used to sing it to me all the time. Now I know I'm busted. I'm pretty sure he knows I'm not over him. The drive seemed longer than 20 minutes, but good thing it isn't as awkward, with Minho and Chaerin singing along the songs playing made me relax a little bit.

“Wait! Oppa, can you stop the car on the side for a bit?” I looked back at Chaerin, who was looking outside the car window, as if confirming something.

“That Panda! Unnie, look! That's my car.” She was totally furious. I looked on my right to see her black car parked in a garage. It seemed like her car was being repaired or something. I looked at the plate number and confirmed it was indeed Chae's precious Mini.

“Urgh! I swear I'm gonna beat him up! That little panda is gonna get it!” She was in the process of opening the door. She marched through the garage and dragged Seungri out in the open. They were arguing, yet again. What's new? Minho and I chuckled at the poor man outside, being scolded by the fierce girlfriend, while he waves his hands to us. I took note of Youngbae's quietness.

Chaerin came back, this time a little calmer and stopped in front of the passenger door. I rolled down the window .

“Unnie, I'm sorry to leave you alone with the guys. But I need to stay here and wait for the car.” She genuinely looked apologetic. She knew I would be feeling very awkward, with still 10 minutes journey to go.

“It's OK Chae. But what did your panda do this time?” I let out a huff of laughter when I saw her roll her eyes.

“He took the car to his photo shoot location. Apparently it was somewhere very run-down and seemed like those places where 'yankees' fight each other. Anyway, he said when he got back to where he parked it, 2 tires were flat. And to add to that, he also said someone saw 'yankees' put nails through my tires.” She emphasized the word 'yankees' partnered with two hands holding up 2 fingers each, moving them as if it were bunny rabbit ears.

“Yankees?” I thought Yankees was that brand, so I was a bit confused.

“Baby, yankees are rebellious students who pick fights.” I just nodded my head up and down with my lips shaped like an 'O', to regard them I understood.

“Anyway, the ajusshi is almost finished with my tires so we'll be there...given half an hour? Get going now.” She tapped the door then went back into the garage.

Finally, we were in front of my apartment block. Minho skilfully parked the car on the spot with matching number of my apartment. Each apartment were at least given 2 parking spaces, luckily for Chaerin and me. I unbuckled my seatbelt then quickly jumped out off my car.

“Thanks for driving me. You should get going. I'm sure the elders are waiting for you and your friend to get back.” I awkwardly looked at Youngbae's direction with my head bowed down as not to look at him directly. He had his hands in his jeans' pockets- habit never changes.

“Yeah, I guess so. Here you go.” He gave me my car keys carefully then gave me a peck on the lips. It felt so awkward, I wanted to run away. I felt so guilty, even though me and Youngbae were over almost half a decade ago. I bowed towards Youngbae and gave him a quick 'annyeong' and a 'nice meeting you today'. It took all my effort not to run towards the apartment entrance, but the thought of tripping up on my 4 inches stilettos erased the idea.

When I got in the apartment, I felt like my knees lost all of it's energy, I fell first on the floor as soon as I closed the door. I still couldn't register the reality of Youngbae being here. Worst is, he's connected to my boyfriend. I carelessly took my shoes off and made my way to the kitchen, I badly needed some water. My heart hasn't had a rest since Youngbae showed up at the restaurant. It's a great thing I didn't turn down the 2 days off. It may be better to take a break from the office, even if it's only for 2 days. There's a big chance he'll be visiting the company frequently during the business trip.

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Meeting Dara was totally unexpected. Minho never mentioned her name, nor did his family of mentioning him having a girlfriend. Maybe this is what she's always believed in – Destiny.

I just returned to my hotel room. A cold shower could really take away these tiredness that's draining my energy right now. I felt happy but regretful when I saw her. I went into the bathroom and turned the shower on, testing the water if the coldness was bearable to shower with. I took off my clothes, not bothering where they went, on the floor, in the sink, wherever they may have ended up on.

Sigh~. I feel so frustrated. Closing my eyes only reflects the image of Dara and Minho being all lovey-dovey. I know I have a fiancé, but I'm still in love with Dara. The wedding has been held up till this day. I was almost married, 3 times in these past 4 years, but the bride-to-be always postpones it. But somehow, all those fail marriage attempts made me feel like I wasn’t meant to marry someone I didn't love.

I started my way to my dad's room after freshening up. He rang me earlier to say he was back from the Fukumitsu's and to come meet him in his room. I knocked and waited for someone to open it when I saw the familiar face of his secretary.

“Hey Dad!” I flopped myself in the long couch with arms extended onto the backrest.

“How was the Fukumitsu's heir today?” I looked at him and took a deep breath in, thinking of the words to describe the man.

“He was fine. When it comes to discussing about work related stuff, he seems very serious about it.” I pushed myself forward to reach for the juice my dad's secretary just went to get me while I nodded and put the glass up to silently thank her. Dad was still looking through some documents.

“Mr. Lee said Minho is a very carefree person but when it comes to work he's very diligent.” He finally put the documents away and reached out for his untouched coffee on the table.

“It seems like he doesn't have a say on his grandparents though.” I drank the last gulp of my drink and settled the glass back on the table. I leaned forward and put both my elbows on my thighs, action for a serious talk.

“Yeah. The elders, especially Mrs. Fukumitsu, are extremely strict . I heard Minho has a Korean girlfriend and they don't like her all that much, since she apparently doesn't have a name to herself. Saying she's just a nobody. Mrs. Fukumitsu even said something about hating social climbers, but wasn't directly talking about the girlfriend.” He sipped his coffee carefully then put it back down on it's own little plate.

“Wow. Harsh words for someone who also used to be a nobody.” I wanted so badly to talk some sense into that woman's head, that Dara isn't like that at all.

“Youngbae-ah! Don't dare say that to anybody else, or we'll be in big sh*t.” Dad pointed at me but I just shrugged it off. If he knew that old woman was talking about Dara, I'm sure he would want to defend her pride as well, since he liked Dara.

Everyone in my family loved Dara, particularly dad. They keep saying they love how she's so innocent but knows a lot of things about life, and she's down-to-earth. Though there are also stuff she doesn't know, like earlier with the 'yankee' remark, and to say she's been living in Japan for 4 years. They loved her silly, lame jokes, but that's what made it funny because she wasn't afraid to look stupid in front of anybody.

Dad had me check out some documents together, and to discuss future actions. We looked at the time and it was already 11:30PM, and we have an early day tomorrow. Looking through work stuff definitely took my mind of Dara.

“By the way, I met Dara earlier.” I didn't look up and just continued scanning my eyes through the piece of paper I was holding.

“Really? How is she doing?” My dad put down the documents he just finished signing, as his secretary started fixing them in an organized file while putting them in a suitcase at the same time.

“She's fine. She got herself a boyfriend.” After passing the document I read to the secretary, I leaned back relaxing, trying to look as if I wasn't affected, but my dad knew better.

“Are you OK son?” He looked at me with anticipation.

“Yeah, sure.” The look I had that time gave me away. I know I can confide in my dad, since he always wants to know what me and my brother feel, especially when it comes to love. He knew my strong feelings for Dara were still intact and I'm not yet ready to let go of all that.

“Well, I can say destiny is playing it's games again. Too bad for both of you, you're playing a painful game, unlike some who are lucky to get away from a miserable game over.” He gave me a pat and gave my shoulder a supportive squeeze.

“Dad. I know I'm not in my place to ask such thing but, do you think destiny is trying to tell us we're meant to be together? That we have another shot together?” I felt like his answer could be my last chance. If he said something that would give me hope, I think I can go with my feelings.

“What about In Na? She's your fiancé.” That answer totally blew every chance I had hoped for. I know Yoo In Na doesn't love me, and I haven't the slightest feeling of love for her either. I just nodded to my dad and told him I was going back to my room.

I slouched myself on the bed comfortably, facing the ceiling. Dara, Dara, Dara – she was all I was thinking of. I know for sure I'm going to see her again. I don't know if I should initiate a conversation. She didn't seem like she was comfortable seeing me again. Even I wasn't feeling comfortable.

After much thinking, I got ready for bed and hoped that these thoughts wouldn't intrude my dreams. As usual, my bed routine was to play a song in my iPod to help me drift off to sleep.

♫ Iyureul mollasseo, wae naega byeonhaenneunji
Hancham saenggakhaesseo, neowa mannan ihuro
Na byeonhan geot gata, aju manhi mariya
I norae deullini oh~ ♫

- Baby Baby – 4Men

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(*A/N) Another cheezy scenarios T^T I swear I'll do a better job next time =] Ya'll have to enjoy all the cheezy-ness somehow *wink wink* And since I'm not very knowledgeable in Japanese language, I don't really know about surnames. . .And sorry for the late update! I lost internet connection ¬¬