“What do you think you’re doing Jiyong…?” 

His gaze immediately darted towards her… wearing a flustered look on his face, he watched as Bom’s expression turned a little displeased… he could only stay silent… letting the sounds of the heavy rain swallowed the silence between them… 

“I am not supposed to step-in into your business… but what’s gotten into your mind now…? Why are you doing this huh…?”

Her voice sounded with mixed confusion and impatience… and Jiyong looked at her with his brows arching… forehead creasing for he can’t figure out what the other was talking about… 

“I’ve been watching you Jiyong… for this whole week… and I can’t understand why you keep on trying to approach my friend…”

And upon hearing it, Jiyong’s expression slowly calmed… finally understood what their conversation was all about…

“Why..? Just because we broke up, I can’t approach her anymore…? I can’t be near her anymore…?”

His voice was weak… yet enough for the other to hear it and be more upset with his response… Bom’s brow rose… jaw clenched as to how insensitive Jiyong is with what she’s trying to tell him…

“You know, that’s not what I meant Jiyong… but no matter what’s going on inside that head of yours, I just want to tell you that… please stop hurting my friend… she had enough of you and the pain you’re giving her…”

With that, his eyes widen a bit… a wave of pain shot right through his chest upon hearing Bom’s words… he, of all people knew what he had done to Dara… and he, of all people know what Dara deserves yet he can’t just contain himself to watch her from afar… for right in the first place, he should be by her side and give her that happiness that she deserves…

A moment of another silence passed before he found the right words to say… 

“Bom… I just want her back…”

His voice cracked a bit… wearing a pleading look on his face… he looked at her ex-girlfriend’s best friend with such pain in his face… but Bom knew better… with that, she scoffed before giving Jiyong a disgusted look… 

“Why…? Was it because you’re already tired with your other woman…? Why Jiyong…? Can’t she satisfy your needs now..? Did you realize that Dara’s better than her…? What do you want exactly from my friend..?”

Jiyong bit his lower lip… hands went into a ball of fist, suppressing himself from breaking in front of Bom… he doesn’t want Dara to be compared to anyone… doesn’t deserve that kind of low judgment yet he had slapped it into her the day she caught him kissing another girl… he was about to speak up, only for Bom to cut him… 

“She gave you everything… yet you were not satisfied with it… you had all the opportunity yet you let go of it… and now you want her back…? Why..? Just so you can use her again then dump her once you found yourself another girl to play with again..! She’s not a toy Jiyong..! And that goes to your other woman as well..!”

Her voice echoed along the hallway of the building… couldn’t restrain herself from her bursting her anger towards the man in front of her… there was a moment of silence again before Jiyong’s gaze slowly landed on the floor… 

“That’s not… it’s not what I meant…”

He stuttered… tears started to form inside his eyes… he kept his head low, hiding it from the other…

“Then what…?” Bom’s voice slowly faltered… still wearing a perplexed look on her face, she waited for him to explain… 

“I love her… I made a great mistake for hurting her that much… and how I hate myself now for doing that to her… I know I did something that’s impossible to be forgiven… I’m just a person… and too weak to be exact… but I love her… realizing it just when everything’s over between us… just when I can’t express it to her anymore… seeing her with another guy… I just realized how it must painful for her when she saw with another girl back then… it’s too painful to watch Bom…”

His words started to mixed-up… became too emotional to clearly speak out himself… 

“Just because you see her now with another guy..? You’re saying you’re jealous…?”

And her mocking voice made him to turn to her again… Bom saw how Jiyong flinched with what she said, with that, a slight smirk formed on her lips…

“No you’re not Jiyong… you’re just being like this because of your pride… the things that you failed to do for her are now being done by another guy… and the happiness that you failed to give her are now being given to her by that same guy… tell me… it is because of that right…? You want her back just so you can prove to yourself that you’re better than any other guy for her… aren’t you being too selfish for that Jiyong…?” 

With that being heard… a tear finally escaped his eye… trailing down on his cheek… he felt his breath got stuck inside his throat… that a suffocating feeling slowly burying him down on the tiled floor of the building.. 

He shook his head… ‘no, that’s not it…’ he kept on telling himself… it was not all because of pride… if right at the beginning of him realizing every pain that he’d inflicted her… he had swallowed the last strand of that pride… even hurting himself just so he could pay for that mistake… 

He looked away… and Bom continued to watch him as he slowly break into pieces… if now, he’s being like this towards Dara’s friend… how could he even face Dara when time comes… with that, he gulped down the forming lump on his throat and heaved out a deep sigh before turning back to Bom with an unreadable expression on his face… 

“Probably I am…”

He started… and saw how Bom’s face slowly showed yet confusion…

“Even the fact that I don’t have any rights to be… because I know she still loves me… because I know, I’m the only one who could give her the happiness that she wanted… I am selfish and I will use that last chance to get her back…she’s supposed to be mine… just the way I’m supposed to be hers… I love her… and I will use that reason to get her back with everything that I can… I’ve already done the mistake of simply ignoring her importance… done the mistake of forgetting how much I love her… and Bom, I don’t want to make that same mistake again… so please… give me a chance…”

Bom was a bit taken aback with what she heard… watched as the tears inside Jiyong’s eyes threatened to escape again… her eyes widen for a bit and went stiffened on her spot before she held her head slightly bowed down and shook her head…

And after a while, a slight smile appeared on her lips upon remembering how Dara would tell her how much she can’t forget Jiyong… and now, the man that Dara was talking about is before her… telling her how he would do everything to get her back… she could only shook her head from mixed frustration and confusion about the situation of the two right now… how could one mistake could bring them to such complicated state… 

She looked up again to meet Jiyong’s gaze… watched as the guy’s face contorted in much agony… oh how much she wanted to laugh at his state right at that moment… he truly deserves the torture he’s experiencing right now… yet she can’t help but to feel at least sorry for him… because at the back of her mind… something’s telling her that what she heard from him were all true… the way he looked in so much pain right now, was enough to know that he had completely knew what he had lost… and that, every person commits a mistake and should be given a chance… 

She looked away…brushed her hair away from her shoulder with one of her hands… and looked at him with the side of her eyes… before she shook her head once again… 

“Look at yourself right now… if Dara would see how helpless you look right now, I’m sure she would easily forgive you… she’s a bit stupid when it comes to you, you know… but what you’ve done to her was much stupider…”

Jiyong held his head down again and slightly nodded with her words… Bom sighed before a slight smile formed on the side of her lips… 

“You’re too confident… but I can’t help but to agree that you’re right… you’re the only one who could make that silly girl happy… that no matter how many times I’ll tell her that she deserves a guy that’s better than you, she would still tell me that you’re different… I just don’t know what she sees on a stupid guy like you…”

And that added more to pain inside him… ‘his’ Dara… how stupid he was for hurting the person who treasured him the most… 

“But I am not in the right place to give you the chance that you’re asking… after all, I am not the one that has been hurt by you… I am just right here to remind you not to give her more pain Jiyong… because if you’ll do it again… may she forgive me for the things I’ll do to you…” 

With that, Jiyong looked up once again… his lips strained to form out a smile… with what Bom said was enough to give him more hope to get Dara back…

“Thank… thank you Bom…” he whispered… earning a low laugh from the other…

“Oh don’t thank me… I’m not even going to help you to get back to her… I still don’t like you Jiyong… in fact I hate you…but what can I do…? Boys will be boys… they will always think with their and you’re the living proof of that…”

“I know… and I’ve learned my mistake now… ” Jiyong just smiled at her again… startling her… she could only give him another disgusted look before she turned to the entrance of the building, opening up her umbrella… 

“I have to go… and by the way…” she turned to Jiyong, who looked at her with a puzzled look on his face…

“You’re ‘ex-girlfriend’ seemed to be having fun with Jaejoong… I can’t blame her for that… he’s really charming and is in fact way better than you…I might even help him once he asks for my help to get with Dara…” 

She told him… wearing a sly smile on her lips… she watched as Jiyong immediately went stiffened on his spot… jaw clenched and eyes widen with what she said… with that, she let out another chuckle before turning on to her heels and left…

Jiyong stood there for a while… watched as Bom’s figure slowly vanished through the heavy rain… hearing that from her made him more anxious… and thinking that Dara and that guy were together that moment… he cant help but to feel more helpless… he doesn’t even know where they were… he could only stand there… doesn’t know what to do…

He gripped on his umbrella tighter… shook his head before a thought came to his mind… 

After a while of pondering… he opened his umbrella and stepped out under the rain… letting his feet drag him to wherever his heart was telling him to go… 


--


The rain has finally stopped… yet the cold breeze continued to envelop the night… she walked her way home alone… pouting in annoyance as once again another day with Jaejoong was spent with him whining that he’s hungry and tired… blaming her for letting him carry alone the toys that they bought for their booth… making it harder for him because of the rain… she could only listen with deaf ears… wanted to finish their task sooner so that she wouldn’t deal with him anymore… but despite his childishness… she can’t help but to be amused by him… at least he’s cute whenever he would whine… in the end she just treat him to a coffee shop… and the young guy was so delighted as if it’s his first time tasting a hot coffee… 

He didn’t accompany her home… not that she wants to… plus the fact that he told her that he’s too tired to walk her home, better yet go home alone in the middle of the night than to listen with him whining again… 

A slight smile curved on her lips upon reaching her home… but then, that smile slowly faltered upon seeing a familiar figure seated on the side of the door of her unit… all crouched down… hugging his knees… 

And upon realizing who it was… she gasped… felt her heart started to beat fast… she blinked her eyes, hoping she’s just imagining things… but then, the figure won’t vanish from her sight…

Hearing the slight sound of her gasp… Jiyong slowly looked up his knees… rubbed his eyes with his thumbs, trying to adjust his sight from the night… 

He had been waiting for her for hours… fell asleep in the middle of the cold night… he didn’t care… was too caught up into waiting for her… felt anxious about her still outside in the night… yet he can’t do anything but to just wait… 

And upon seeing her… his eyes immediately snapped open and lips curved into a big smile…

Dara took a step back when Jiyong quickly stood up from being seated… groaned a bit when he felt the numbness on his knees… but shook it away as relief showered over him upon finally seeing her…

“You’re finally here… I thought something bad happened to you…”

He worriedly told her… startling her with his statement; she looked at him with a puzzled look on her face…

Despite the dimness brought by the night, Dara’s gaze landed on his dried lips and saw the paleness of his skin… how he trembled a bit from wearing such thin clothes… her brows furrowed in worry… yet bit her lower lip to suppress herself from showing her concern…

“What are you doing here…?” she coldly asked… about to walk past him to get to her front door but was stopped when he held her arm… it didn’t escape her to notice how her heart leaped with just a simple touch… 

Jiyong smiled… immediately let go of her when he felt her stiffened… pulled his hand back and put it inside his pocket instead… 

“Dara…” 

She flinched upon hearing her name… jaw clenched and lips started to quiver… how she missed that voice… how she missed him calling her with such gentleness in his voice… yet she kept her gaze on the door while he stood at her side… 

“Dara… I need to talk to you…” He whispered… 

But she didn’t respond… instead… unlocked the door of her apartment…instantly, Jiyong felt a bit alarmed when she ignored him… and when she was about to go inside… he held the door closed for her not to be able to enter…

“Dara please…” 

He pleaded… but she kept her head down, not looking at him… struggling to open the door yet he kept it closed with his strength…

“Dara...-“

“What do you want…?! What more do you want to tell me Jiyong…? Haven’t you told me everything yet…?”

Her voice started to break… couldn’t help but to think that he’s there to mock her again… ‘What more does he want..?’ she asked herself…. finally she looked up to him with a pained expression in her face just like he’s wearing...

He was about to speak up only to be stopped when one resident in the building appeared on the end of the hallway… Dara took the opportunity to open her door and step inside her apartment only for Jiyong to catch the door before she close it… he followed her inside… shutting the door behind him, leaving his things outside…

“Are you insane..?! What do you think you’re doing…?!”

She looked at him with a shocked expression on her face… about to open the door for him and push him out but he held it closed behind him with his other hand… as the other pulled her arm roughly towards him and let her body crashed against him… 

Dara’s eyes widen… struggled from his hold but he held her tight… his other hand let go of the door… wrapping his arm around her frame and kept her trapped inside his arms… 

“Jiyong let go of me…!”

She yelled on his shoulder… but instead of doing what she told him… he squeezed her body more… almost lifted her off the floor for she’s already on tip-toe, he continued to crush her body with his tight embrace… snuggling his head on the crook of her neck… he closed his eyes and smelled her scent… 

She continued to struggle… her strength slowly drained until she could only feel his warmth… her eyes started to moist… lips quiver as she looked up… confused as to why he’s doing this to her… hoping that it wasn’t happening… but with his next words made her mind completely went blank…

“I missed you so much… Dara-ah… Oh God I missed you so much…” 

He whispered against her neck over and over again… tears started to escape the sides of his eyes… his body began to tremble against hers as he began to cry…