The One Who Got Away

Chapter 20

Those first days set the pattern for the rest of Jiyong's month. If Jiyong had set out to ingrain himself into her life then he had already succeeded because Dara unconsciously was no longer considering the two hours as a chore she had to get over with. Two hours each afternoon were spent in Jiyong's studio except on Saturdays when she had to put in more time at work. Saturdays he'll just pick her up and drive her home afterwards, occasionally dropping by for a midnight snack somewhere if she's not too tired.

Bom, ever since she found out of their weird arrangement despite feeling happy seeing her friend this relaxed for the first time in years couldn't help but be worried for her. Everything appeared too good to be true, something is bound to go wrong at some point.

She made a mental note to talk to Jiyong when she can and set things straight with him. If he is just playing with her then he better get ready because she won't hesitate to go full on Bominator on him. For now, however, she just kept a watchful eye on her friend.
Their two hours had slowly become the highlight of her day. She would find herself tapping her fingers and jiggling her knee in excited anticipation every time 1pm approached. Those two hours had become the figurative caffeine that jumpstarted her before her work day.

If she had took the time to analyse herself then she would have ran screaming from him but she felt so good lately that she conveniently forgot the past because the present had made it seem insignificant. That was her undoing because she blindsided herself and she did not prepare for the possibility that the past might just swerve right back towards her and swing her off course.

They were on the last stretch of Jiyong's month but no one spoke of the termination of their unwritten contract. Jiyong would casually mention his plans for the both of them for the following month and she was too high on endorphins to correct him. They had set a comfortable, easy pattern that it felt for both of them at that time that it could go on forever. That they could both go on forever like this.

Fate had a wicked sense of humor, however. On the last day of Jiyong's month, the day that they were both trying to intentionally gloss over, the past came back with a vengeance. They were sitting side by side on the sofa. Her head resting comfortably on his shoulders. He was setting up his laptop. He wanted to show her something. A video of his with the other Big Bang members was aired the night before and she wasn't able to watch because she was at work.

He played the video clip. It was of him writing a message to himself for Big Bang's time capsule for 2021. After an initial hesitation on what to write he had set his pen on the bright yellow piece of paper and started enthusiastically writing a message to himself. It was obvious from the slight wrinkle in his forehead that he was taking his writing seriously although occasionally a slight smile would flit briefly in his lips.

He addressed the camera and said, "Yes, I wrote a letter to myself. Jiyong congrats to your wedding. Your wife and baby are so lovely." He pressed on the pause icon and turned to her to say the words that he had been planning to say since the night before. He knew his month was ending but he'd be damned if he'd just let her go away. In his excitement he failed to notice the tension that suddenly caused the previously relaxed woman lounging at his side to remove her head from his shoulder and sit up.

"Dee," he turned to her. But the sound of his voice seemed to have the opposite effect that he was hoping for. Dara turned pain-stricken eyes that were brimming with tears at him and said, "I can't deal with this now. I'm sorry, Jiyong. I have to go." She immediately jumped up and went out the studio, leaving him stunned with an unsaid proposal frozen on his lips.