{ 33 }

Questions about Jiyong bombarded Dara when the four of them went back to the faculty room. Go Yoo Bin even made a special appearance in front of their faculty room– along with five other teachers– but thankfully, Sohee’s threats were effective that they left Dara alone... at least for now.

“I feel so tired!” Dara said when she settled in her seat. It seems like her students also heard the news and they were looking weirdly at her. Minji took over most of her classes, and she felt very grateful to the younger girl who let Dara alone with her thoughts.

Donghae was just about to comfort her when Mr. Jang, the school principal, showed up in their office. “Ms. Park Sandara?” He asked, his voice cautious.

Dara instantly stood up. “Neh, Mr. Jang?”

The older man cleared his throat a few times before answering. “Mr.– a visitor’s waiting for you at my office, Ms. Park.”

She felt her heart skip a beat. She already knows who the visitor was, if she was to conclude from Mr. Jang’s cautious actions towards her. She quietly followed the principal towards the office. Thankfully, none of the other teachers tried to pry on Dara’s life, as they have seen that she was with the principal.

Mr. Jang opened the door for her and she bowed a little. Surprisingly, the older man didn’t follow her inside. He stayed outside the door, blending in with the other men wearing black suits stationed outside.

When she got inside the office, it seemed like her thoughts were wrong.

“Good morning, Ms. Park.” Mr. Kim, as Dara remembers, was Jiyong’s bodyguard who reprimanded her for defiling Jiyong’s name.

She smiled a little. “Good morning, Mr. Kim.”

“Please, call me Jaejoong.” He answered and flashed Dara a dazzling smile. He motioned for the couch in Mr. Jang’s office and told her to sit there.

Dara obeyed obediently as Jaejoong sat on the seat opposite hers. “I take it you already know the situation this morning, right, Ms. Park?”

She smiled uncomfortably. “Yes, Jaejoong. And uhm, you can just call me Dara, or noona, if you’re Jiyong’s age.” She replied.

“Oh, Dara-ssi then.” Jaejoong responded, not wanting to lose the honorifics. “Sir Jiyong told me to wait for the end of your schedule and bring you to the KGC’s building if he doesn’t come here first. He would have come here himself, but he was at a prior engagement that he couldn’t get out of.”

She nodded slowly. “Arasso, Jaejoong.”

“Trust Sir Jiyong, Dara-ssi,” Jaejoong softly reminded. “He may be stubborn and strong-willed, but everything he does usually turns out for the best.”

She smiled sincerely at Jaejoong. He may look like a cold man outwardly, just like how Jiyong was, but there was no doubt that he’s also a warm kind of guy inside. Maybe, Dara thought, he only needs someone to melt his ice. She inwardly grinned. Just like what I did with Jiyong. “Thank you, Jaejoong. Don’t worry, I do believe in Jiyong.”

--

Jaejoong, along with his other men, continued to guard Dara. When her colleagues saw that there were a bunch of dangerous-looking men following her around, they immediately backed out from their plan on prying on her dating life with the famous business mogul Kwon Jiyong.

She looked at her phone and saw a familiar number calling. “Hello?” She answered.

“Unnie!” The other line said excitedly. “Unnie, it’s Durami!”

Dara grinned upon hearing her younger sister’s voice. “Durami-yah! Omo, unnie missed you guys! How are you? Sanghyun? Omma and appa?!”

Durami laughed on the other line. “Whoa unnie, chill! Anyway, omma asked me to call because appa saw something on the newspaper...” Dara heard the uncertainty on her younger sister’s voice.

“Noona you’re dating Kwon Jiyong-ssi again?!” The person on the other line changed to Sanghyun, and Dara could only imagine how he roughly snatched the phone from Durami because he was already feeling impatient.

Unlike Jiyong’s family, Dara’s family completely knew about her relationship with him. She already brought Jiyong to Busan twice, and then her family met him again for one more time when they visited her in the dormitory. Every family member of Dara has a soft spot for Jiyong, but when he suddenly disappeared like a bubble, almost all of them harbored hard feelings for him, too. Mostly, it was Sanghyun, because among everyone else from her family, he was the one closest to Jiyong.

“Yes, Sanghyun-ah.” She answered quietly.

“But noona, he’s a jerk!”

“Park Sanghyun, language!” Their mother hissed from the background.

“Mianhae, omma,” she heard her youngest sibling mumble before turning back to Dara. “Dara noona, Jiyong-ssi–”

She sighed. “Sanghyun-ah, it’s a really long story. I’ll explain next time, neh?”

“Arasso, noona.” Sanghyun answered and the phone was passed on to their mother. “Dara-yah?”

“Omma!” She excitedly gushed. “How have you been?!”

“We’re fine, Dara-yah. How about you?”

“I’m great, omma.”

“You’re really back with Jiyong now, neh?”

She paused before answering. “Neh, omma.”

“Arasso, arasso. I trust you and your decisions, Dara-yah. We will always support you and we’ll always be here for you.” Mrs. Park said in a gentle, motherly voice. “You don’t need to go through hardships alone, Sandara.”

Despite her stress, Dara smiled to herself. “Arasso, omma. Thank you for understanding me.”

“Okay, then. I just hope you two will come visit soon.” Her mother gently reminded.

“Of course, omma!”

“Okay, we’ll call again soon. Bye Dara-yah. Take care, we love you.”

“Neh, we love you!” Her two other siblings echoed, which made her laugh.

“I love you too, guys. Take care!” She said before putting the phone down.

No matter what, Dara felt energized while recalling her mother’s words from the phone. She attended her classes with renewed energy, and soon enough, the day was already coming to its end.

She was busy fixing her things to be able to go home soon when Sohee suddenly came bolting to Dara’s desk. “PARK SANDARA, PPAL LI!!!” She shouted and dragged Dara by her arms. The latter barely even picked up her things when Sohee made her run down.

“Sohee-yah, what’s this?!” She tried asking, but her friend remained mum and continued dragging her across hallways and the school’s quadrangle.

Soon, they saw quite a number of students and teachers alike crowding on the school’s main gate. The two guards Won Rae and Su Won were having a hard time making them go away. “Coming through, coming through!” Sohee shouted among the vast sea of people, still holding Dara. To Dara’s surprise, the people parted, giving them a way.

That was only when Dara realized what was happening. She saw Jiyong leaning on his white Lamborghini while exchanging pleasantries with the high school’s kingkas. Dara’s aware that the kingkas’ parents were affiliates of Jiyong’s company, which is why they were powerful inside the school. She knows them because they were in the classes she was handling.

Jiyong still hasn’t noticed her; he was talking to Park Chanyeol. Dara was familiar with Chanyeol because when there are activities in her class, he would always be the one to participate. He was also voted as the class president in Dara’s advisory class, which was the reason why she interacted with him more than the other kingkas.

“DARA-YAH!” Sohee shouted her name loudly to catch Jiyong’s attention. It worked, because Jiyong’s ears always perk up when he hears Dara’s name. He looked around and caught her eyes. He quickly straightened his back and smiled at the kingkas one last time before he jogged to Dara.

“Hey,” he greeted and smiled, although Dara can see in his eyes that he looks stressed.

“Hey,” she answered softly, not wanting to add to his burdens.

“Let’s go.” He said and guided her to his car. The kingkas were still there and they bowed down to Jiyong. “Goodbye, Mr. Kwon. We hope to see you soon,” Wu Yi Fan said.

Jiyong smiled at them. “Of course. You guys should go at the Kwon Group of Companies’ annual ball on December, okay?”

“Certainly, Mr. Kwon.” Kim Joonmyun answered. He turned to Dara. “Goodbye, Ms. Park.” He added and bowed. The rest of the group followed suit and she smiled at them before Jiyong opened the car for her. The group waited for the car to disappear from their sights before they teased their friend, Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol-ah, looks like Ms. Park’s already taken.” Jongdae teased. “What will you do now?”

“Yeah,” Minseok followed and nodded. “To think that you even threatened your classmates to vote you as the president just so you could talk to her more.”

“AISH!” Chanyeol answered and pushed his members away. “Can you guys leave me alone?!” He exclaimed and ran towards his car, blocking out the members’ teases and going home to wallow for his lost first love.

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Lol I ship Chandara in a fanboy/idol way XD Yeol's a cutie! ;P

Happy new year, everyone!

-X