Later that night after dinner everyone was just relaxing in the living room when the house phone rang. Dae Sung, being the closest, went to answer it. Everyone else had their eyes fixed on the television. “Yeobosaeyo? . . . Ji Yong Hyung!”

Heads snapped out and everyone of them — minus Lia — began to rush for the phone. “Wait!” Dae Sung exclaimed, stepping back. He put the phone on speaker. “Hyung, you’re on speaker.”

“Annyeong,” Ji Yong’s cheery voice came.

“Hyung! How are you?”

“So you got to Japan safely?”

“Come back soon!”

“Woof!”

That was Gaho and everyone laughed as the dog whined, hearing his master’s voice but not being able to see him anywhere.

Ji Yong chuckled. “Lia, is she there?”

Dae Sung rolled his eyes. “Always the first person he asked about,” he muttered.

Tae Yang whacked him on the head. “Lia is always the first person everyone thinks about, babo,” he scolded.

Lia smiled. “Ji Oppa,” she exclaimed. “You called!”

“Of course, you silly. I promised you, didn’t I?” Ji Yong replied softly. Lia knew he was smiling which made her smile too. “Anyway, I’m in the hotel now and it’s very quiet without Dae Sung and hyung arguing and all.”

“Hey!” Dae Sung and TOP protested.

”Maknae, has Lia taken her dinner yet?” Ji Yong went on, ignoring their complaints.

Seung Ri nodded, even though he couldn’t see. “Neh, finished everything on her plate — including the vegetables,” he replied proudly, hugging his girlfriend on the waist.

Lia made a face. “Goodness, was that even necessary to ask?”

“Yes,” Ji Yong and Seung Ri answered back solemnly.

She sighed.

From the other end of the receiver, they all heard their leader yawning. It must have been tiring, especially since it’s so late at night too.

“Why don’t you go to sleep?” Tae Yang asked his friend.

“Yeah, I should . . . I just wanted to call to let Lia know I’m safely in Japan.”

“Take care of yourself and come back home safely! Drink lots of water and take plenty of rest. Do not strain your voice too much!” Lia called.

“Aish, this girl,” he mumbled. “All right. I should get some sleep. Good night, everyone. Take care, Lia.”

“You too!”

They hung up and Lia smiled, happy to hear from Ji Yong. She was really glad that he was safely in Japan now. She hated plane flights and had a fear that they might crash and the people she loves will die.

“Well,” TOP spoke up, “since we’ve heard from Ji Yong, we might as well get our sleep. Especially Mei — it’s way past your bedtime already.”

She rolled her eyes but Seung Ri helped her up on her feet, back to her room. She lied down on bed and he lied down next to her after he turned the lights off. He snuggled up cozily to her. “Good night, jagiya,” he murmured to her, yawning.

She yawned as well. “Good night, oppa.”

TOP peeped in and smiled when he saw the angelic look on his sister’s face. She looked so peaceful and serene. He loved seeing her like this. He came in and kissed her lightly on her forehead. “Good night, Mei.”

“Good night, Bingu Oppa,” he heard her mumbled sleepily back.

He chuckled as he walked out of the room to his own room, stifling a yawn.

Soon the whole house fell asleep.

When Ji Yong came back home, he was bearing gifts (rather, sweets and candies) for the guys. But for Lia, he got her a huge teddy bear. She squealed in delight when she saw the soft toy.

She hugged it, smelling his scent on it. She smiled as she kissed him on the cheeks. “Aww, gomawo, oppa,” she said.

He ruffled her hair. Then he looked at the clock. “Oh, I have to go.”

Lia frowned. “Go where?”

“Got a hot date?” Tae Yang joked.

Ji Yong blushed. “Actually, yeah I do,” he admitted.

“What?” everyone chorused.

TOP smirked, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “Well, it’s about time!” his deep voice boomed.

Dae Sung nodded. “So, who’s the lucky lady?” he wanted to know.

Ji Yong just smiled. “You’ll meet her soon enough. This is just the second date. We are not even official.”

“Wait, you already had your first date already?” Seung Ri asked him. “When did you meet her? How come this is the first I’m hearing of it?”

Ji Yong shrugged. “I met her when I was in Japan. She was one of the helpers while I was there and I’m lucky to have met her. She’s really nice and beautiful.”

Lia bit her bottom lip. She felt something weird inside of her, like her heart stopped the moment he said he had a date. Jealousy. She winced slightly. No, she should be happy that he’s moving on from her. He deserved to be happy as well. Besides, she had Seung Ri. He is really sweet and she really loves him.

Ji Yong walked to his room to get ready. He passed by Lia on his way there. He stopped and smiled at her, ruffling her hair playfully before entering his room.

Lia sighed. “Maknae Oppa, can you help me up?” she muttered to her boyfriend. “I want to go to my room.”

He helped her up and walked her to her room. She didn’t know why the fact that he was going on a date with another girl bothered her so much.

“Are you okay?” Seung Ri asked her as she got into bed.

She smiled at him, gently caressing him on the cheeks. “Don’t worry about me,” she said to him. “I’ll be fine.” She threw the covers over herself.

He nodded, kissing her softly on the lips. “I’ll stay with you for awhile.” He sat down on the bed, wrapping his arms around her, taking her hand in his. He played with it, smiling to himself. Her hand was so soft. He had to smile. He looked at her and saw she had a sad look on her face. “Lia, what’s wrong?” Seung Ri asked her.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she replied but her voice was a bit shaky. “I’m just really tired.”

He frowned. “You’ve been really tired for a long time now,” he muttered under his breath. He placed his palm on her forehead. “Hmmm, it’s normal. You’re not running a fever.” Seung Ri wondered what was wrong with her.

“Could you bring King in here?” she asked in a small voice. “I want to feel safe.”

He was hurt. “Don’t you feel safe with me, jagiya?” he asked.

She smiled sweetly at him. “Yes, I do, but you’re not exactly a great ball of fur, are you?” she asked back. What she didn’t say was that she wanted to hug a warm living thing that doesn’t talk.

Seung Ri nodded, standing up. “All right, all right; I’ll go get King, your favorite dog in the world.”

“Don’t tell that to Gaho — he’ll never come to me anymore if you do.”

He chuckled as he went out of the door to the backyard, where the dogs were all resting. King was lying down on his mat. He didn’t look up when Seung Ri walked out. Boss, Gaho and Charlie did, though. They jumped on him, barking excitedly.

Seung Ri patted each other of them before turning to King. “Lia’s looking for you,” he told the big dog.

At the mention of Lia’s name, King’s ears pricked up. He was up within seconds and he ran passed his legs, squeezing his way through the gap of the door to run to his mistress.

Lia giggled when she saw an enthusiastic King jumping on her bed. She hugged him in her arms. “Hey, boy.”

King her face before he droop his head low to her stomach. He gently nudged her there before collapsing next to her, resting his head on her thigh. He gave her the puppy look and she laughed.

“King, you’re not a baby anymore,” she said to her dog, scratching him behind the ear. He leaned over on his back, his legs up in the air and she scratched at his favorite scratching spot: his tummy. The German shepherd dog twitched his legs in pleasure, his tongs lolling out. She smiled.

Seung Ri was about to come inside the room when he saw her enjoying her moment with the dog and decided not to intrude. Whatever is bugging Lia, she would tell him. He just has to be patient. He decided to go bathe. He smiled at the delicious aroma coming in from the kitchen, where TOP was cooking dinner before heading toward the bathroom.

Lia was too busy scratching King that she didn’t notice Ji Yong entering the room. It was only when she heard him laugh did she then only looked up. “Hey,” she said sheepishly as though she’d been caught doing something bad. “I was just playing with King.”

“I can see that.” He strolled over to her. He spread his arms. “How do I look?”

Lia had to admire his outfit. He was clad in a blue silk collar button-up T-shirt and jeans. His hair was spiked up. He looked nervous but giddy at the same time. “Does this girl mean a lot to you?” she asked him warily.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but when I’m with her, I feel happy  . . . like I should have been a long time ago.” The moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake. His eyes grew wide and he clamped his mouth. “Omo, I didn’t mean it like that!”

She blinked, feeling as though she’d been slapped. She bit her bottom lip like she always do whenever she was hurt but was trying to be strong. “Well, I guess you should go find your ‘happiness’ now,” she said in an even tone. Truth is, she was hurt. And he knew it. He always did.

He shook his head, getting down on his knees at the sides of her bed. He reached out to take her hand but she snatched it away. “Lia, I didn’t mean it like that,” he pleaded with her. “What I meant was that I just feel happy. I slipped. I didn’t mean what I said.” He tried to take her hand again and this time she didn’t pull back.

“It’s not my fault everything happened the way it did,” she muttered, looking away.

Ji Yong was extremely remorseful. “Lia, I am so stupid. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that,” he tried again. “Please, it’s nothing personal. I mean — well — I just —” he stammered like a complete idiot. Well, he was feeling like one after that stupid comment. What was he thinking? Why did he say that?

“Just go,” she replied, taking a breath. She put on a brave face. “Have fun. Don’t knock her up.”

He hesitated before kissing her gently on the forehead. “You’ll always be my favorite girl. You will always be my baby girl,” he murmured gently to her before walking out of the room.

Lia broke into sobs. With a start, she started to realized why she felt sad and hurt about the fact that he was dating someone.

She was jealous.

Now she knows how he felt whenever he sees her with Seung Ri.

King her face and she cried in his neck. This was too much to bear, everything was too much to bear: her pregnancy, what she really feels toward the maknae, her friendship with Ji Yong, her brother’s over-protectiveness — everything.

For once she wished she never met Big Bang.