Over at the Zaifhers’ Headquarters, G-Dragon couldn’t sleep. He was up, thinking of his plan, and thinking of his sweet Mi Hwa. He reached over to his rucksack and searched for something inside. He took out the photo of Mi Hwa and him. He stared at it, mesmerized. How he wished that he could rewind the time back to that day. Everything seemed so right, down from his confession to her that he loved her, to the night where they first made love.

The same night, he presumed, Yongie was made.

But then he snapped out of it and continued to search for the thing he was looking for. At last he felt it. He was about to take it out when there was a knock on the door. He quickly stuffed it back in his bag. He didn’t want anyone to know what he had been up to.

“Come in!”

Jihyun walked in with a coy smile. G-Dragon noticed how little she was wearing. She was wearing a very short, tight shirt and a very short skirt that could pass for a belt.

“Well, Jihyun, you’ve really outdone yourself this time,” he said as she walked over to him and kissed him.

She sat on his lap. “Well, G-Dragon, I’m so glad you’ve returned,” she said smoothly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I hope you enjoyed the glorious party tonight.”

He smiled back, but he was on guard. You can never tell what goes in Jihyun’s mind. Nothing good, of course, but she was very unpredictable.  He placed his hand on her waist, it softly. “Oh, yes, Jihyun,” he replied, not missing a beat. “I sure did. It’s so good to be back. I’m ready to take back my role as leader.” He stressed the last word and smirked when Jihyun cringed slightly.

But Jihyun was faster and recomposed her posture. “My dear G-Dragon, I hope to hear about your plans on invading the Deneirees,” she went on. “After all, that is why you have gone, wasn’t it? To find information about them and betraying them by leading your clan to wherever they are . . . right?”

He nodded, playing along. He knew what she wanted. Too bad, she wasn’t getting any of it. Not even the slightest bit. “Don’t worry, Jihyun. It’s all planned out. You’ll find out about it soon enough, along with everyone else.”

She hissed in frustration. Clearly, that wasn’t what she had in mind. Nevertheless, she titled her head and said flirtatiously, “Don’t you trust me, G-Dragon?”

He laughed wryly.  “Of course I don’t trust you,” he replied, not trying to lie. “You’re not one to be trusted. You’re nothing but a deceitful, little witch. Who’s cunning and y, I’ll admit.”

“But you trust Mi Hwa. After all, she’s your lover.” It was a statement, not a question. Jihyun waited for his reaction, knowing that it would hit the nerve.

G-Dragon’s heart skipped a beat, panic rising. “Dara told you that? No, it’s not like that. It’s nothing like that. Mi Hwa was . . . a mistake.” He hoped he sounded casual. He thought he sounded casual.

Jihyun raised an eyebrow. “G-Dragon, you sound hysterical,” she replied. “Why? You only sound hysterical when —”

But he stood up and she quickly jump up from his lap to keep herself from falling off on the hard ground. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said coolly. “Leave now. I need my rest.”

She nodded, bowing a little. “As you wish . . . my lord.” She left the room. But she stopped at the doorway. “You do plan to do the task tomorrow, when they are not very well planned, right?” she added.

“I decide what to do. Not you. Now please, leave me.” He sighed with relief once the door was closed.

That was a close call.

If he wants to save Mi Hwa, he is going to act fast. He felt lost. He nearly lost it. He could not slip, not even once.

After much thinking, he decided to do something that might help him. He got up and walked out of his room to the dark hallways to the building.

He was heading for the prison cell. It was time to face his ex-girlfriend.

He swiftly entered and went right for Dara’s cell where he found her fast asleep. He knelt down, slapping her cheeks lightly. “Wake up, Dara,” he said softly.

With a start, she woke up. “G-Dragon?”

“I need to know what you told Jihyun,” he told her in a low voice. “I need to know to help get Rae Ah back if you tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. I can only save her unless you feed me lies. Understand?”

She nodded.

“What did you tell Jihyun that I don’t already know?”

She hesitated. “Only that you fathered Mi Hwa’s child,” she said at last. She paused to think of what other information she could give him but came up blank. “I think that’s pretty much all you need to know. You already know about the other things I told her.”

He closed his eyes, trying to calm his panicked heart. Dara had confirmed his worst nightmare. Jihyun did know. Quivering with anger, he stood up. “Thanks a lot, Dara,” he said harshly and she flinched at his tone. “You just put everyone in the Deneiree clan in jeopardy just because you were a selfish .” He left the place, leaving Dara to feel very ashamed of herself.

“I’m sorry,” she said to no one in particular. She closed her eyes and prayed that her baby girl would be all right, that G-Dragon would do something to keep her safe. That’s all she’s ever wanted.

* * *

The next morning, Bom was scrubbing the dishes in the café when Chaerin came up. “Good morning,” she said brightly. “Nice to see you up and at it.”

Bom turned. “Good morning, Chaerin unnie,” she replied. “Did you sleep well last night?” She saw dark rings under her eyes and winced slightly. “I guess not, huh?”

Chaerin grinned sheepishly. “Well, it was hard to get enough sleep, what with all the drama going on around here.”

She nodded kindly. “How’s Mi Hwa? She looks really upset. What really happened yesterday?” she wanted to know and Chaerin told her. When she was done, she dropped opened. “Wow. Is that why Seunghyun-sshi decided to sleep with her last night?”

Chaerin nodded, scratching her head. “Uh, yeah. She needed comforting and since they’re really close, he decided to stay with her.” She smiled. “She’s lucky.”

“It must be tough, losing someone you love so much,” Bom remarked thoughtfully and Chaerin had to agree. She looked over at her. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling?”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Whoo. Well, thank goodness the morning sickness has gone,” she replied. “I was really getting tired of vomiting all the time.”

Just then Seunghyun wandered into the café, looking exhausted. “Hey, girls,” he said sleepily. He blinked a few times to stay alert.

“Hey, you look wiped out, jagiya,” Chaerin said, giving him a back rub. “Didn’t get enough sleep, huh? I didn’t get much sleep, either.”

“Not really, no. I was practically up all night, thinking of things.” He looked around. He sighed wearily. “So, what’s going on?” he asked, hoping for a change of topic. Anything to keep his mind of things.

“We’re just talking about your baby,” Bom told him, grinning.

Instead of look happy of the news that he was going to be a father, he just looked grim. It reminded him of something he had been trying to put off from his mind. He sighed, sitting down on the nearest chair.

Chaerin sensed that something was off and that it has nothing to do with him being a father. “What’s wrong, darling?”

“Mi Hwa’s pregnant again.”

That took the two girls by surprise. They didn’t expect that.

“What?” they both said in shock. “Are you sure?”

He nodded, burying his face in his hands. “This is a mess,” he groaned, shaking his head. “Ji Yong knows about it.”

“G-Dragon knew his girlfriend is pregnant, and yet he decided to risk his life, leaving her alone with now soon-to-be two kids?” Chaerin couldn’t believe she was hearing this. “That’s absurd! He’s crazy! How could he??”

Bom honestly had no idea why Mi Hwa loves G-Dragon so much. He wasn’t good-looking, he was rude, a bully, although not as bad as Jonghyun. Plus, he was evil — looked evil too. Bom reckoned Mi Hwa must really see the good side of him to love him so much, and takes a lot.

Seunghyun saw her look and smiled sadly. “Mi Hwa has a big heart and my brother has always admired her. If Dara hadn’t come along, they would’ve been together a long time ago. Maybe she would’ve stopped him from becoming G-Dragon. Who knows?” He shrugged. “Only Mi Hwa can calm him down, even when he is at his angriest mood. It’s a miracle. He would be ready to kill you but then Mi Hwa just have to call out his name and almost in an instance, he would relax.”

“Wow. Sounds complicated.”

“Even I don’t understand it,” Seunghyun replied. “Their love is really rare.”

“It seems as though they have this unspoken bond between them,” Chaerin chimed in, smiling. She sat down on his lap. “I just love to see them together. They always look so happy when they’re with each other.”

Seunghyun hugged her from the waist. “Are you trying to imply something, dear?” he lightly.

“Now why would I do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know . . .”

Everyone shuffled into the café sleepily, ready for breakfast.

“What’s on the menu?” Jonghyun asked.

“Vegetable soup,” Bom shot back, giving him a withering look and he grimaced. She rolled her eyes. “It’s baked beans with eggs and toast. The usual. What do you expect?”

‘Chicken,” he replied slyly, shooting a sideway glance at Minzy and So-hyun, the clan’s animal lovers, who looked horrified.

“No chickens!” they both cried.

“Jonghyun,” Chaerin said warningly.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m just saying. It’ll be nice to have a decent meal once in awhile, right So-hyun?”

So-hyun just stuck her tongue out. “No, you big, dumb bully.”

Everyone laughed and the atmosphere calmed down. At that moment, Mi Hwa entered with Yongie trailing behind at her heels. “Good morning,” she said tiredly. She sat down between Onew and Kibum who greeted her by kissing her on the cheeks.

“Morning,” they said.

She smiled feebly, biting into her toast. “Um, after breakfast, I plan to take a walk outside, if that’s okay with you,” she said, looking at Chaerin for permission. “I’ll be extra careful.”

“Okay, I’ll join you, Mi Hwa,” Seunghyun offered cheerily.

Mi Hwa looked stumped. “Oh, well . . . I was thinking of going by myself —” she began.

But Seunghyun cut her off. “Nonsense. I’ll come. Yongie will come along too, won’t you, Yongie?”

Yongie beamed. “Yah!” he blubbered.

Mi Hwa just smiled weakly.

Seunghyun knew why she wanted to go off alone. She wanted to visit G-Dragon. And he wasn’t going to let her. He promised his brother that he would look after Mi Hwa and Yongie. And that is exactly what he is going to do.