CHAPTER 50

His arms tightened its hold around her waist as he embraced her from behind. She held on to his arms as she closed her eyes and leaned back against him, savoring his comforting warmth. He leaned down a bit, tilted his head, letting his lips brushed against her ear. The salty cold breeze coming from the sea before them brushed against them and it only made him tightened his embrace around her more… 







The sides of her lips twitched… slowly curved out a smile as she heard him humming against her ear and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stood up, as he tickled her with his hot breath. She opened her eyes and the wide sparkling blue sea welcomed her sight, she could still hear him humming…the sound was very much familiar to her. Yet she couldn’t put her mind to remember what the song was because just the fact that she could hear him humming for the first time… the feeling was as if he was singing to her, made her blush and forget everything else. 







She sighed in contentment… couldn’t figure out the mixed emotions that were stirring her insides… she wanted to cry out of bliss… it was just so perfect. The sounds of the waves crashing against each other… under the pale blue sky… with him humming against her ear… but most of all, being right here in his protecting embrace, oh she really wanted to cry in happiness. 







After a while, he stopped… and just then she noticed the wild beatings of her heart, and upon hearing it, she blushed once again.








Jiyong’s eyes fluttered in happiness, his thin lips were curved out in a smile as he too looked over the sea. He rested his head over hers as he let out a contended sigh as well. 








“I wish we could be like this forever…” 








She heard him whisper… his voice sounded so calm yet a tinge of sadness could still be felt from it. She squeezed his arm as her smile faltered a bit. 








“Me too…” She whispered back.








Jiyong let out another sigh as he released her from his embrace. He grasped on her shoulders and turned her around to face him. Dara locked gaze with him for a while. One of his hands reached up to her face and caressed her cheek as another smile curved on his lips. 








“What do you say about having our own house?” He suddenly said and at first Dara wasn’t able to hear it clear. For a while she stared at him with a calm expression on her face before her eyes slowly widen as well as her mouth. She looked at him with mixed confusion and surprise in her face. 








“Wha-… what did you say?” She stuttered on her words. Her voice barely heard.






“Just the two of us… together… away from all this bad things that’s been happening…” 








Dara gulped down, couldn’t blink her eyes from what she had been hearing from him. Together… alone with him… with just the two of them; she blushed from the thought. But as much as she wanted that dream to come true… at the back of her mind, she knew she couldn’t just easily be happy and accept what he was offering her. There suddenly was a painful tug in her heart, preventing her happiness. She couldn’t accept his offer. Not when she knew there were still rough edges that needed to be fixed. 







The smile on her lips finally vanished, and her expression slowly changed as she stared at him with reluctance. There were a lot of things she wanted to discuss to him… and one of those was about Yunho, yet she was hesitating… afraid that she’ll hurt him in the process. Yet if not now, when…? She can’t take seeing him in so much pain. 









“But… but what about your parents Jiyong? Or Yunho-ssi…?” She started, and she watched how Jiyong’s expression turned sour immediately. He closed his eyes, his jaw clenched and he was about to turn away but she held on to his arms. 









“You can’t stay mad at them… they’re your family…” 









Upon hearing it, Jiyong immediately opened his eyes. His expression was cold and he wasn’t able to control himself that he glared at her. Dara gasped, fear started to crawl down her spine yet she kept her stance.








“Right now… you’re the only family I have.” Dara flinched from his words… the pain inside her chest, grew… scalding, burning her. This was so wrong… 







“Jiyong, I know you’re mad… but-…” 








She was cut when he managed to pull away from her grasp and started to walk away. Dara’s heart ached in agony as she watched him go. No no no… she shook her head, what had she done? There they were… all happy and alone together… and she just had to ruin it by meddling about his family again… 









But there was a side of her that wanted for everything to be in place first before she could have him all for herself. She couldn’t let him use her this time to run away from his problems, ‘their’ problems…







She followed him to their car. Jiyong hastily got inside, banging the door closed. He gripped tightly on the steering wheel; cold eyes were set on the dashboard of the car. His jaw was clenched, and he was controlling himself not to throw a fit on her, not that he already did a little. 









Dara quietly slid in the passenger’s seat… expression was filled with worry; she stared at him for a while. She gulped down; one of her hands curled into a fist before she tried to reach up to him but got stopped when he started to speak.







“How long have you known him?” Jiyong spoke in a hard cold voice, not minding to glance at her as he kept his gaze ahead. 








“Huh..?” Dara’s brows arched up as her head automatically tilted to the side. 









“Tell me… how long have you known him…?” Jiyong’s voice wavered… sounded almost like a whisper. And upon realizing it was Yunho he was talking about, Dara slowly lowered her gaze, her hand rested on her knees. 








“I saw him first when we… and Soojin went to the beach… I didn’t know Jiyong…” She stuttered. Jiyong kept silent, completely torturing and confusing her. Where was this heading to? She couldn’t help but wonder. 









“And you’ve been meeting up with him since then..?” Apart from the calmness in his voice, there was the familiar coldness in it… and a tinge of indictment that made Dara flinched and immediately looked up. 









“What…? No..!” She couldn’t help but for her voice to sound defensive. 








“You were meeting up with my brother.” Jiyong mumbled under his breath. The thought of Dara and Yunho together made him sick. The fact that his brother was supposed to be Dara’s husband swam inside his mind once again, making him drown. He didn’t know what to do… he didn’t know if he could control himself… especially his possessiveness over her. She was his… and he’ll die if someone, especially Yunho will take her away from him. 









Dara brows met in frustration… what was Jiyong up to? 








“I didn’t know he was your brother. But still… Jiyong why are you so mad?” Her voice shook, controlling herself not to cry. But the sight of Jiyong was making it hard for her not to. 








She gasped as Jiyong spun his head to meet gaze with her. His eyes were digging holes through her as he stared at her with hate in his eyes. He wanted to reach for her, grab both of her shoulders and shake the life out of her. 








She was asking him why he was mad. Couldn’t she see? 








Yunho came back to take her away… he came back not because he was sorry for everything but instead he came back for her… to take the person who was most valuable to Jiyong now. And his parents, who Jiyong thought would understand him this time won’t do anything but let Yunho to take over the things he worked hard for… he doubted they will stop Yunho from taking Dara away from him as well.








Didn’t he have the right to be mad? 







“I don’t want to lose you…” He said between gritted teeth. 







Dara looked at him with connected brows. Confused with his words, she reached for his arm and squeezed it. He continuously stared at her; silence surrounded them and after a while, her expression slowly calmed. 








“What do you mean Jiyong..? Of course you won’t…” Her other hand reached for him as well, pulling him towards her and after a while, Jiyong finally succumbed to her, he let her turn him towards her. She cupped his face between her hands and watched the twisted expression on his face. 







“Please talk with your parents… they only want what’s good for you Jiyong…” Jiyong didn’t answer but instead he continuously stared at her. 








“I’ve talked to Yunho-ssi once…” upon hearing it, Jiyong tried to escape Dara’s hold but she held his face tight. 








“Don’t Dara…” he warned but she shook her head. 








“I didn’t know it was you and your family that he was talking about… but Jiyong… he was regretting everything he had done.” 







“He wants to take you away from me!” His mind screamed over and over again. 







“Jiyong… you’re just hurting yourself.” Her voice filled with sadness but it wasn’t enough to make him sway. 








His hands came to grip on hers and forcefully pulled them away from his face. He looked away, still holding on to her hands. He squeezed her hands on his lap, his jaw clenched tightly as he once again kept his silence. 







“Don’t do this now Dara…” Dara groaned in frustration. He was running away again. 








“But Jiyong-“ 







“All I want is to forget everything today but you just had to ruin it.” She gasped, felt a stab on her heart and she looked at him with a stunned expression on her face. Now, he was mad at her as well. She wanted to cry, but tears won’t escape her eyes. 







She wanted to slap herself, hoping it would wake her up from this nightmare, but his tight hold on her hands failed her… and made sure that everything was not a dream. Her good intention went back to her like a slap on her face. Can’t she stay put for a second, without ruining anything? Can’t she be selfish for a minute, letting herself enjoy the time with him alone…? As much at it sounded so easy. She can’t. 








Jiyong squeezed her hands for the last time before he let go of them. Dara stayed calcified, watched him as he started the car and began to drive off. He didn’t even bother glancing at her as he kept his gaze on the road. After a while, she finally managed to look away. With a heavy heart, she set her gaze on the window beside her. Watched how the heavens turned grey… joining her in her agony. 







The next few minutes were excruciatingly silent. Neither of them spoke nor glanced at each other. She was blaming herself for ruining the day, yet she can’t help but be mad at him as well for being so immature now despite everything they had went through. How could he run away again? But still… he asked for a day with her… a day of just the two of them… how could she take that one opportunity away from him…? 








And if his hate for his parents wasn’t enough to make him feel so betrayed, his wife’s persuasions made it a lot worse. He had asked a day of freedom… a day with her alone yet there she was… had to ruin it herself. He wanted to be free from the man he was when she met him, yet it was so hard to do especially when Dara made him feel deceived as well. He couldn’t help but feel that she was siding with his parents and most of all with his brother. 








Suddenly, he swerved the car to the side, hastily parking it. And after a long while, Dara finally turned to him, only to be welcomed with a furious expression plastered on her husband’s face. Her eyes widen as she gasped. And the next thing, she found herself being shaken frantically. 







Jiyong grasped both of her shoulders and began to shake the life out of her. He was beyond mad; towards his parents, his brother and now even to Dara, and the thought of being mad at her made him even madder. 








“Can’t I have a day of peace? All I need is a day away from everything…a day alone with you! Please, don’t make me hate you as well...”









His voice filled with pain, far from the cold tone from a while ago. She was hurting him… as much as she didn’t want to, she already did. 









Dara gripped on his hands which made him stop. He panted, as well as her. And she could feel his anger, fuming out of him as he stared at her with cold eyes again. She bit her lower lip, and upon doing so, she felt it tremble… and her eyes blurred as she could feel tears forming on the rim. She parted her lips… and choked as a stream of tear escaped one of her eyes.








“I’m sorry…” She cried out and a flood of tears followed suit. 








Jiyong stared at her tear-stained face. The anger inside him slowly doused. His heart tendered from the sight of his crying wife, but it was those familiar words that came from her mouth which made his chest constrict painfully. 







She began telling him something but her tears made it hard for him to understand any of it, not that he was listening in the first place. He just continuously watched her. His hands gripping both of her shoulders tightly, not minding he was hurting her. And after a while, the sides of his lips curved out a slight smile, his eyes flickered with a tinge of sadness and he let out a deep sigh. 








He wrapped his arm around the back of her neck, pulled her towards him and wrapped her in an embrace. Dara continuously cried and apologized for ruining their day. Jiyong just smiled and began stroking the back of her head gently with his other hand. His other arm tightened around her, pulling her closer. 







After a while, she finally stopped from crying. Her eyes were closed as she rested her head on top of his shoulder. Jiyong placed a kiss on the side of her head and continuously stroked her hair. 







“This is very hard for you isn’t it?” He mumbled, embracing her tighter. 








“I’m sorry for putting you through all this…” He kissed the side of her head once again before closing his eyes as well. 









“I just can’t be happy as you want me to be when I know you’re not, Jiyong…” She finally whispered. 








He pulled out from their embrace and cupped her face in between his hands. He wiped off the trail of her tears with his thumbs before leaning down and kissed her on her forehead. 







“I’m happy with you” 







Dara wasn’t able to respond that she could only look at him with a forming blush on her pale cheeks. Jiyong finally curved out a big smile upon seeing it. He leaned down once again and kissed her, this time on the lips. Dara slightly turned her head away after breaking the kiss, hiding the flustered expression on her face. 







He smiled again before reaching on to her, cupping her chin with his fingers and turning her head to meet his gaze. 








“The day hasn’t ended yet. Now I want you to just forget everything that had happened a while ago and enjoy this day with me.” She nodded at his words, pouting her lips a bit like a little child being scolded by his dad. 







“Coz baby there’s nothing else that could make me happier than being here with you.”







She gasped upon hearing it. Her heart swelled from his endearment but most of all the way the words escaped his lips… or just because he said those words to her. 







His brows furrowed. Felt his chest tightened from the sight of his wife, he leaned down and once again captured Dara’s lips with his. 








He sighed, and turned to the road after he broke the kiss. He started driving once again, still enduring the forming pain in his heart. Just when she was already there by his side, everything else around him felt so wrong, restraining his every move… even his feelings for her. 





--




Wearing a wide grin on his face, he walked along the corridor of their house, looking for his wife. Nothing could let his mood down whenever the scenes from yesterday kept replaying his mind. How could simple things make him smile nonstop? Despite the drama, the rest of the day was one of the best days of his life. They’ve watched a movie, gone to a dinner… strolled along the beach, holding on to each other’s hand but what made everything felt so perfect was the fact that he was doing all of it with Dara. 







And as they went home yesterday, they’ve learned that his parents went back abroad, which added up to his happiness. He really just can’t face them yet. 








And so now, holding on to his tie with his other hand, he looked for his wife who apparently was missing since they finished their breakfast. 








He was stopped from his tracks when he spotted her at the end of the hallway, going out from one of the rooms. 








“Hey… I’ve been looking for you” He said with a gentle voice as he approached her. 








She almost jumped from his voice, and almost dropped the key to the room she just gone to. She smiled at him as he approached her, quickly fastening the necklace around her neck but she can’t place its lock properly. Jiyong raised a brow, noticed the familiar pendant of her necklace. It was the key, and he was sure she just used it to the room she just came from. 







As he reached her, he smiled down at her and reached around her neck for the lock. Upon locking it, his hand trailed down the key and examined it. 







“What’s inside the room?” He asked in wonder.







“Huh..?” Dara’s voice sounded a bit nervous that made him look up at her and stared at her in curiosity. Jiyong didn’t respond but instead look over the room he was talking about. Dara gulped down, he can’t see the paintings yet. She thought, and blushed as she wondered what would his reactions will be once he sees them. 







“Uhmm… some of my things are in there… I just went to check if one of my clothes is in there…” Jiyong nodded approvingly and smiled at her. 
“Did you find it?” He asked. Dara flinched… uncomfortable in telling lies. 







“No…. I probably left it at home.” Jiyong nodded again and to change the topic, Dara cleared her throat and grabbed Jiyong’s tie from his hand. 








He pouted curiously before his lips slowly curved into a wide contented smile as Dara reached around his neck and put his tie on. He held on to her waist, pulling her close which made Dara gasp. After putting it on him, Dara rested her hands on both of his shoulders, about to pull away from him but he held her still. He looked at her playfully before he leaned down and covered her lips with his. He chuckled from the surprised expression on her face before he leaned down once again and kissed her much longer than the first one. Dara wrapped her arms around his neck, tip-toed her feet and tilted her head to the side to kiss deepen their kiss. Jiyong sighed once they broke from the kiss. 







“Ah… I couldn’t ask for more…” He spoke to himself loudly that she heard it. She could only smile and rest her head on his shoulder as she hugged him tight for she, herself would want nothing more than being here in his embrace. 






--





Her heart was pounding as she got off the bus. She told Jiyong earlier that she’ll meet up with Chaerin but apparently, she lied. She could just imagine the angry look on Jiyong’s face if she would tell him that she was going to his brother. As much as she doesn’t want to pry in their argument, she wanted to know why Jiyong was so mad at his brother. So there she was, walking along the beach, on her way to the construction site… hoping that Yunho will still be there, working. 






It didn’t take her a while to spot him. He was busily working on the roof of the construction and Dara felt her heart hammered against her chest as she got closer to the site. It felt so different now, knowing that he was Jiyong’s brother, remembering the things she told him before. 







She stopped on her tracks when she saw Yunho glanced towards her direction. She clutched on her bag tighter and forced out a smile. Despite the distance, she could clearly see the blankness on his face as he looked at her, and after a while, it slowly changed as Yunho smiled back at her. 





--




“I kinda expected that you’ll come here…” He said in a gentle voice, his lips were curved out in a slight smile as he glanced at her. Dara gave back a glance before she shifted her gaze away. 







“What are you doing here? I mean… why are you still working here…? I thought you wanted to go back…” She returned her gaze to him, couldn’t even look at him straight in the eyes that she just looked down on chest. Who would’ve thought that he’ll be Jiyong’s brother? There aren’t even similarities between their appearances, or probably Yunho just changed because of the kind of job he has. His built was much larger than Jiyong’s, his skin was much tanner than her husband’s… the only thing that made them the same was the gentleness in both of their eyes as she looked at them but still, they don’t look like they were brothers. 







“I love working in here… and I want to finish this construction before I could formally go back home” 








Dara could just only nod before a long awkward silence filled the atmosphere around them. Yunho played with his fingers… bit his lips, couldn’t endure the uneasiness he could feel from her, with that, he broke the silence himself. 








“I’m sorry…” He whispered, making Dara to immediately glance at his way. 








“I’m sorry for not telling you right away that I am Jiyong’s brother.” 






His brows furrowed at he looked at her with much seriousness in his eyes. He wanted to reach for her and make her understand that he didn’t mean to complicate things even more… but his realization was too late for he already shown himself… and already made things complicated. Now, she couldn’t even look at him straight in the eyes just like she would always do in the past. 







“But Dara... I didn’t know you are his wife the first time I saw you. I only knew it when the both of you visited Mr. Jang…” 








Dara stayed silent, still contemplating about the things she had said to him… did he really went back because he wanted to patch up things with his brother and his family? Or was it because of the things she told him before? She flinched from the thought… but that was all before she and Jiyong settled their problem. If only she kept her mouth shut about her marriage… 








“But most of all, I’m sorry for putting you through all this.” Yunho grasped her hands, making her gasp and waking her up from her deep thoughts. 









“Y… Yunho-ssi… I was… it’s my fault… I was wrong…” She stuttered, doesn’t know where to start. Yunho tightened his hold on her hands, and he looked at her in confusion. 








“I shouldn’t have told you those things…” She bowed her head and bit her lips to control her emotions. One of Yunho’s hands let go of hers as he reached for her chin and tilted her head up. 








“You suffered because of me…” He whispered. Dara shook her head…








“Jiyong shouldn’t be the man he is right now… I am supposed to be that man…” Dara’s heart fell upon hearing his words… what was he talking about…? 
“I’ll take you away from all this pain Dara…” She was left astonished. Her body stiffened and felt numb that she didn’t feel him caress the side of her face. 








Yunho stood up, turned to her and watched the surprised expression on Dara’s face. 








“You should go now Dara…” He whispered… couldn’t take seeing her in that state, he turned around and started to head back to the construction site. 







Dara sat there for a while… Yunho’s words floated inside her mind, realizing what he meant, she felt her heart ached for Jiyong. It was her fault. She brought a great misunderstanding to Yunho and now, Jiyong was paying for it. She stood up and searched for Yunho. Found him on the site and with that, she ran after him. 





--





Yunho heard her calling him; he turned around and saw her running towards him. He was startled to see a frown dragging on her lips, tainting her beauty. There was a small distance between them, she stood there panting… the frown on her face grew deeper that it hurt him. Was she mad at him? He thought.








“Yunho-ssi… don’t… don’t hurt Jiyong… please… don’t hurt him…” 








She spoke with pained voice, yet as if he was the one who could feel the pain more. Her words shot through him like tiny needles, painfully piercing him. He stood there for a while, contemplating on her words, and it always ended on her rejecting him even before he could express his feelings for her. 








Why was she defending Jiyong? 








And he thought she wanted everything between Jiyong and her to end. But why was she now talking to him as if he was the bad guy? All he wanted was to right every mistake that he had done. 








Just then, his thoughts were stopped as loud voices coming from the other workers brought him back to reality. His gaze immediately shifted above Dara. And his heart almost stopped as he saw one of the foundations collapsed… blocks of woods were about to fall over her. 








“Dara!” He shouted. Everything happened slowly, the next thing he remembered was that he threw himself over her. They both crashed on the floor. He heard her yelped in pain but he didn’t have the time to examine her that he only enveloped her in his arms, embracing her. Some of the woods crashed over him, he groaned in pain but he didn’t loosen his hold on Dara.







The workers immediately went to them. Pile of woods covered the both of them. He could hear them calling his name but he couldn’t answer them back. He could feel himself passing out yet he forced himself to stay awake until he could be sure that Dara was safe. 







“Dara…” He groaned as he looked down at her. He cupped her face. His eyes widen as he felt blood at the back of her head.







“No… no… no! Dara, wake up!” He couldn’t feel his weak body anymore as panic filled him. The other workers finally found them but he didn’t budge as he kept all his attention to her. Just then, he heard her moan. And relief washed over him as he saw her eyes slowly opened. He brushed her hair away from her face. And he almost smiled to see that she was okay, only to hold back his smile as he saw her closed her eyes and heard her moaned out his younger brother’s name. 






--





Jiyong sighed for the nth time as he continuously listened to one of the workers, which he assumed was the engineer of the project he was doing. He crossed his arms, and looked over the construction site, completely not paying attention. A smile slowly curving on his lips as Dara’s face flashed through his mind. 






He badly wanted to go home now, eat dinner with her and curl beside her in their bed. He wondered what she was doing now. Was she thinking about him? Just then, he accidentally let out a light chuckle which made the group of men around him stopped from what they were doing and turned to him. 






“I’m sorry… what were you saying again?” He then saw the engineer shook his head just like the rest of the men. He could only roll his eyes and sighed. If he wanted to see her, he should be concentrating now and finish everything first. 






Just then, his phone suddenly rang. The men around him turned to him again. He was about to turn his phone off but then seeing Dara calling him, it felt like everything around him vanished.







With a wide smile on his lips, he answered the call, completely ignoring the scrutinizing eyes of the men around him. 







“Hey… what made you call..? Are you going home now?” He said with a gentle voice. But then, after a while, the smile on his lips slowly faltered. The calm expression on his face went blank as instead of his wife, a nurse answered him. 







It was enough knowing that Dara was in the hospital that made Jiyong’s body stiffened, fear crept inside him and the next thing he realized was that he was running towards his car, heard his co-workers calling his name but he didn’t care. 







It didn’t take him a while to reach the hospital. His heart was pounding against his chest; he still didn’t know what happened for he immediately hung up on the nurse once he knew where his wife was. 






He ran like a mad man towards her room, wearing a stricken expression on his face. 






‘Is she okay?’





‘What happened?’ 






And he could only imagine himself dying once he knew Dara was in danger. 






He was about to enter her room but then he was stopped, his hand holding on to the door. He managed to open it a bit, and saw that she wasn’t alone in the room. 






Yunho was inside… his arm was casted and he was wearing hospital clothes. Jiyong blinked his eyes… Why is he here? He thought she’ll be with Chaerin. He could feel his chest tightening from the thought that Dara and Yunho were together during the accident. Just then his gaze landed on his wife who was sleeping soundly on the bed. Her head was casted and it took him a lot of effort not to run inside and envelop her in his embrace and ask her what happened and if she really was okay now. 






But he was glued on his spot. Watched how his brother sat on the side of his wife’s bed and watched his wife in her sleep. Jiyong dropped his hands on his sides… his hands formed into fist and he could feel himself losing his breath as he continuously watched the scene in front of him. They just… they just look good with each other… and it killed him with that fact. And as if it wasn’t enough to put him on his grave, Yunho leaned down on Dara… he whispered something that Jiyong managed to hear. 






“I’ll take care of you Dara… you’re supposed to be mine…” 








His blood boiled from what he heard. With that… he slammed the door open, startling Yunho. Jiyong looked at him with pure hate in his face as he pointed to the door.








“You were already given a chance. You spoiled it… she’s my wife and you don’t have the rights to tell those things to her. She’s mine and if there’s someone who’s supposed to take care of her, that’s me and no one else! Now get out…”