{ 02 }

Dara was out of her mind. She couldn’t even properly teach her students, which is why she resorted to the worksheets which Minji gave her earlier. Buried memories keep on resurfacing, and it’s just too hard to take.

“Ms. Park?” One of her students, who is now in front of her while waving the worksheet, called her. “Here is my worksheet.”

“Oh.” Dara said and did her best to smile. She grabbed the worksheet from the student. “You can go now.”

The student only nodded, but not before asking her. “Are you okay, Ms. Park? You look tired and pale.”

“I’m okay.” She answered. “There are just a lot on my mind.”

“Oh, okay. Get well, Ms. Park.” The student answered and left the room.

Dara, staring at her students but not really seeing them, once again fell into a stupor, thinking about Kwon Jiyong.

-Flashback-

“Yah, Sandara! Don’t you trust me?! I’m your best friend in the world!!!” Bom shouted at her.

Dara didn’t mind her. She only continued reading her book for their upcoming quiz. “Yes Bommie, you are my best friend in the world and I know how your mind works that’s why I absolutely cannot trust you.”

Bom scoffed. “Tss. Do this favour for me, Dee. Seunghyun seriously pulled strings before this thing was scheduled!”

She turned her head to a pleading Bom. “Yah, why did you even bring TOP into this?! Besides, you know I’m not interested in blind dates, Bommie. Really, you annoyed TOP for no reason.”

Bom scooted closer to Dara and showed her best puppy face. “Please, please, Dee? Even Youngbae got pestered for this date!”

Dara’s brows furrowed. “And you even included Youngbae, huh?”

“Yes! That’s why you should totally go, Dee! If not, Seunghyun and Youngbae’s reputations will be totally ruined! They pestered the guy for days–”

“WHAT?! Bommie, I’m not that desperate for a guy! If he doesn’t want to date me, fine! TOP and Youngbae didn’t have to beg some jerk just to bag me a date!”

“AISH!” Bom screamed, irritated. “That’s not the point, Dara! It’s done already! Seunghyun and Youngbae already badgered the guy and he agreed! Just go, okay? That way Seunghyun and Youngbae won’t be humiliated. That guy might think that those two only pestered him for their entertainment.” Bom pulled her sad face again. “Really, Dee, don’t think of me anymore, just think of Seunghyun and Youngbae. They will be wrongly accused–” Bom even sniffed to add to the drama.

“UGH!” Dara groaned out loud. “Remember, Park Bom, I’m only doing this for TOP and Youngbae! Tss, you merciless woman.”

Bom immediately put on a happy face and started hugging Dara. “Oh Dee, I swear, you won’t regret this!” After that, she quickly ran out to see her boyfriend.

Dara shook her head multiple times. Aish, why did I even bit Bom’s bait?! I don’t really think any good will come out of this ‘blind date.’

--

Dara looked at her watch. It’s 2 P.M. already. The supposed date would be at 3 P.M. but she doesn’t have any plans of fixing herself yet. After all, they’d only see each other at Yuri Mall, which is a less than five-minute walk from their dorm. Besides, she wasn’t really ecstatic to see a guy who needs to be pestered before dating her.

She was about to return to watching a movie when Bom suddenly barged in. She frowned. “You have a class, right? What are you doing here?”

“I ditched.” Bom answered. “BUT THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM! You haven’t even dressed up, yet?! AISH YOU STUPID GIRL!”

“Tss. Bommie, Yuri Mall is only five minutes away. I could get ready in ten minutes, you know.” Dara said sarcastically.

Bom didn’t respond, rather, she grabbed a bunch of pillows and threw them all at Dara. “Stupid girl!” She then dragged Dara to the bathroom and shoved her inside. “Yah, take a shower right now.”

“But I already showered a while ago–” Dara whined.

“I don’t care! Shower. Now!”

Dara didn’t want to deal with Bominator’s wrath, so she just slammed the bathroom door hard and started showering again.

She deliberately took a long time, at least 30 minutes, to piss her best friend off, but rather than being pissed, Bom looked proud. “Even though you don’t admit it, I know you’re excited too. See, you even took half an hour in the shower when your usual shower time is just five minutes!”

Dara only exhaled loudly. She doesn’t really understand how her best friend’s mind works.

She was about to grab whatever from her closet when she noticed that her bed was full of unworn clothes. She assumed that Bom rummaged through her things again and saw the girly clothes that she’s keeping.

“Why did you lay all these clothes in here?! I bet they’re already dusty.” She was about to grab all of the dresses in one swift motion to dunk it in the dusty carton when Bom held her off.

“Stop! These are really pretty dresses, Dara. Why didn’t you wear any of them?”

She merely shrugged. “Mom loves to send me those dresses, hoping she’ll see me in one. She thought that I’m not wearing it because it’s not my style of dress, that’s why she keep on sending different designs, hoping it will catch my attention.” She grinned. “The thing she doesn’t know is that no dress is my style.”

Bom could only shake her head because of her best friend’s craziness. That was when she saw the clock and it read 2:39 P.M. Her eyes widened. “Oh no! Wear this and come out quickly!” She shouted and shoved Dara a dress.

“I WON’T WEAR THIS!” Dara screamed, being stubborn.

Bom was about to smack her when she surrendered. “Okay, okay! Stop hitting me, woman!”

A minute later, Dara emerged from the bathroom. She donned the dress and it looked pretty on her, but her hair is still disheveled and her face looked pale. Bom pulled out the seat in front of her study table and cleared it. She then laid out her make-up kit, making Dara horrified.

“Are you seriously going to paint my face?”

Despite being pressured, Bom laughed. “Stupid, it’s called make-up, you cavewoman. Now, stop whining and squirming or else I’ll poke your eyes with eyeliner, got that?!”

Dara could only comply, afraid of Bom’s wrath.

-End of Flashback-

“Dara?” A voice called. “The bell rang a few minutes ago.”

Dara turned her head to see her co-teacher, Wooyoung, leaning on the door. She then looked around the empty classroom. She only sighed and gathered her things before walking towards Wooyoung. “Thanks.”

The two of them walked together towards the faculty room. “You look sick, Dara. Is anything wrong?” Wooyoung asked, worried. Though they may not be the best of friends, Wooyoung is one of the teachers around Dara’s age whom she feels comfortable with.

She only smiled. “It’s nothing, Wooyoung. Just... tired.”

He patted her head. “Guy problems, I bet.” He said and grinned. “Don’t worry Dara, that will pass. Everything passes you know.”

She could only sigh. “I know. But it always leaves a scar.”