"Dara ya~."

Dara who was rushing to go out from the waiting room nervously turned her head around to find the owner of the voice. He was the leader of Sechskies, the man who was now dubbed as her 24 years crush. She took a quick breath trying to keep herself composed but deep inside, only God knew how she felt at that moment. She smiled, hoping that Jiwon and Suwon did not notice how awkward and embarrassed she was. 'Dara' that she knew was professional, who never let her feelings took over her works. Crazy. She must be crazy to confess her feelings, telling him to stop being too careful with her. Who on earth was on the right mind would say that on national TV?

"Why are you walking so fast? Aren't you going to take pictures with us?" said Suwon as he noticed that Dara was walking away from the waiting room after taking pictures with Mino and Jihoon.

"Ah~ sorry. I forgot." Dara handed her phone to the staff asking him to take their picture. She stood beside Suwon before Suwon pushed her to stand at the centre, causing her shoulder and Jiwon's chest to collide. 

"Sorry, are you okay?" Jiwon looked at her. 

She met his eyes. For a moment, she felt the time had stopped for her to admire his beautiful eyes. Oh, and he had a mole below his eyebrow. She was definitely head over heels on him. Eun Jiwon that she knew was not only charismatic stage, but also kind and gentleman in real life. She nodded to tell him she was fine.

They took a couple of pictures together. After a few shots, Suwon took the phone from the staff and told Jiwon to stand closer to Dara, volunteering himself to take a picture of them. 

Jiwon turned to look at Dara. He could see how tense she was standing next to him. This was not their first time taking pictures together. 'Why is she so nervous?' He put his arms around her shoulder pulling her closer. 

"Thank you for the game console. Sorry, it took me this long to say it." Jiwon started the conversation.

"No, it's okay. I should not be saying that. I am sorry for making you feel awkward." She felt sorry for what happened during the recording. She realized her words during the show might put them in an awkward position. What if they suddenly grew distant after this? They barely got close ever since Sechskies joining the company. She tried to fake a laugh, hiding her growing worries inside. 

"No, it's fine really. Do you think I should just give 'it' a shot?" he said, thinking his joke could help to make her relax. Dara's face became flushed. 'Jiwon must be not taking her feelings seriously,' she thought. She could feel the blood rushing to her head and her cheeks were blushingly red. She quickly took her phone away from Suwon. 

"Ayyyy, are you really just going to say 'thank you', Hyung? You should at least treat her for dinner. Oh, speaking of that, would you like me to buy you dinner this weekend, Dara? I wanted to pay my debt to you too." said Suwon. 

Dara shook her head, declining Suwon's invitation. She wanted to quickly fly away from the scene. She told Suwon that she will collect the money from her manager but Suwon insisted to buy her dinner.

Suwon, in fact, had been quite suspicious about both of them since his guesting in Stage K. He then learnt that Dara really had a long-term crush on Jiwon from Dara's close friends. As one of Jiwon's closest brothers, he knew it was not one-sided. Jiwon had been paying a lot of attention to Dara. At first, he thought Jiwon took care of her because he felt obligated since she was one of their juniors in the company, just like how he cared for the other juniors when they attended variety shows with him. There was a time where Suwon caught Jiwon secretly staring at Dara during the interview. Not once, but a couple of times. Jiwon would also react to her, even when she made silly jokes. Suwon was even flabbergasted when Jiwon unconsciously spoke his mind when he said she was cute during the interview.

*****

Jiwon suddenly received a text message from Suwon telling him that he had something important to talk to him. 'This is about Sechskies' future,' he said. He texted a restaurant's address to him, somewhere far away from the main city. He said his friends just opened a restaurant there and he wanted to congratulate him and that the owner of the restaurant is a big fan of Jiwon. Jiwon went to his closet room to get his clothes. He picked his black hoodies and jeans, which he matched with his white sneakers and black cap. He did not put much thought into his outfits and took anything that felt comfortable to him. He took his car key and bid Lucy goodbye before leaving the house. 

*****

Jiwon was puzzled when he arrived at the car park. He opened Suwon's text message to check the address and he was sure that he went to the right place. The restaurant seemed too quiet to have an opening. 'Something just does not feel quite right,' he thought. Jiwon parked his car and walked into the restaurant. He did not see Suwon anywhere in the restaurant except there was one familiar face. Even though the person tried to hide her face with her glasses and beanie, he could see her expression well. She was indeed surprised to see him too.

He checked his phone again. This time he received a text message from Suwon saying 'Dinner on me. Thank me later' with a smiling emoji. He knew he was right about his feelings. 'Sechskies' future my foot. Jang Suwon, you're dead meat.' 

Jiwon calmly walked to the table. He greeted her and slowly pulled out the chair to sit. 

"I don't know that you are coming too?" she asked, puzzled about the unexpected situation. 

"Oh yea, Suwon said he will not be coming," he said. He can see how nervous she looked and he was no different. Compared to their previous date, this was the first time they ever had a meal together, just the two of them. Last time, they had a number of staffs joining them since it was for Dara's YouTube contents. 

Jiwon asked if she had ordered her meals yet. He picked a few expensive meals as revenge since Suwon offered to pay for the dinner. They sat at the corner on the first floor. He looked around the restaurant. The place was very secluded which made it a perfect place for a hideout. He could see some of the waiters kept staring and talking secretly behind them, perhaps they recognized who they were. 

"This must be how the young celebrities dated, right?" Jiwon started the conversation. He did not realize his words would make her startled that she choked on her water. Jiwon quickly handed Dara his napkin. "Ah, sorry. Are you okay?" She nodded, quickly wiped her lips with the napkin. 

"Yea, I thought so. It must be difficult for them to date freely," She recalled her previous relationship, how difficult it was to keep the relationship a secret that she had to starve in order to date. During that time, she usually had the dates in the car to avoid the public eye. "But I guess, that's the thrill." She smiled. 

It has been quite a long time since her last relationship. She just thought that she should stop investing herself in a relationship that would end up making her hurt. That was when she started to fangirling again. She admitted that she liked him since 'Pom Saeng Pom Sae'. Ever since Jiwon joined the company, he really looked like a real celebrity. She became wearier of her feelings after their YouTube date, to the point where she wondered if she liked him for real. But again, who would not like Eun Jiwon? Jiwon is well-loved by people of all ages. He is still as famous as the 20-year-old Jiwon. 

"Why? Have you done this thing before?" Jiwon asked her out of curiosity. 

She shook her head, disagreed. "It has been a long time since my last relationship."

"Me too." Jiwon took a sip of his wine. "I thought you were with Jiyong," said Jiwon calmly as he put his glass back on the table.

"Ah, no. He is just my dongsaeng. I don't date my colleague," said Dara, firm. They were many people who were curious about their relationship. She knew their relationship was quite a topic but Jiyong is a close dongsaeng and a colleague that she respected a lot. He is a friend that she would ask advice about music and also personal life. 

"Then, what about me? Am I your colleague too?" He carefully asked. 

Seeing Dara choked on the water for the second time, Jiwon quickly changed the topic. He commented on how delicious the rib-eye steak was. 'Suwon knew a good place to eat,' he thought.

Jiwon glanced at her. Why wouldn't he like her? She is Sandara Park who is not only well-known for her beauty but also her amazing personality. He knew a few people in his circle who liked and adored her so much. No wonder she had a lot of fanboys among the celebrities, including his dongsaeng, P.O and Mino. 

"You should find a younger and smarter guy, Dara. I am a divorcee, it will be your total loss." Jiwon could not hide the fact that his status being one of the reasons why he chose not to pursue any romantic relationship. No matter how much he liked her, he thought he had to be considerate with the other party as well. Dara is young, pretty and famous. She should find a better guy than him. 

"So what if you are a divorcee? Aren't you a human too?" Dara was triggered by his statement. She could never understand the stigma. So what if he is a divorcee? Being a divorcee is not a crime. And so what if the marriage does not work on the first try. Isn't life is about try and error?

"And who are you to tell me who I should like or not like? I can take care of my feelings myself."

Dara quickly got up from her seat, leaving Jiwon who still had his eyes down. She thought it would be best for her to leave. She did not want to burden Jiwon with her feelings. Dara, in fact, had never expected her feelings to be reciprocated. She was fine having this one-sided crush. 

"Then should I really give a shot on us?" Her small wrist was now being held, stopping her from walking away. All of a sudden, her mind became empty. 

*****

Jiwon quickly washed up before he sat at the corner of his bed. He was too tired after a long drive. The restaurant that Suwon 'sent' him was so far that he spent two hours just for driving. He ran his fingers through his hair with his towel to dry it. His phone suddenly rang. He reached it to look at the name that appeared on the screen. Jiwon had been waiting for the call ever since he arrived home. 

"Yahhh, Suwon, you bastard. How dare you trick me?" He could hear Suwon, Jaeduck and Jaijin laughed in the background.

"Sorry Hyung, I was just trying to be a good brother," said Suwon. "Didn't I do well?" Suwon said with a high and cute tone. Jiwon, however, continued to nag him. His aegyo did not work on him. 'This bastard needs to learn his lesson'.

"You did it?" Suwon asked. "You did it, didn't you?"

Jiwon did not reply. Unconsciously, his lips curled into a smile.