All Bets Are Off

Chapter 10

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Dara muttered in disbelief as she found Donghae yet again standing outside her apartment that morning. He was standing by his car, hands in pocket and was smiling at her wanly. Dara exhaled in an irritated breath while glaring at him and decided to just ignore him. She had woken up feeling good, congratulating herself on a job well done last night especially when she was narrating what happened at the restaurant to Suzy, with the latter laughing at Dara's audacity to plot her perfect revenge. Suzy had then asked on what she will do with the rest of Donghae's friends, with Choi Siwon as their CEO and all but Dara just shrugged and said she will put everything behind her because Donghae already paid the price of her vengeance for all of them.

Now, her morning sunshine is being clouded over by ominous clouds at the sight of Donghae standing there like nothing happened. She stepped down the stairs and walked past him but it seems like Donghae is adamant in ruining her day.

"Dara, can we talk?" Donghae asked while walking into step beside her.

"No," Dara answered without a moment's pause.

"Please. This'll just take a moment. You just need to hear me out," Donghae pleaded but Dara continued walking, not faltering in her stride. Donghae stepped in front of her and walked backwards as he continued, "Please just one minute. One minute." He held up his index finger to emphasize that one minute he was asking but Dara just kept walking and hoping he would trip over something. "I know I've been a jerk," Donghae went on and Dara scoffed. "A total asshole. And I can't blame you for being mad at me."

"Oh, you think I'm mad?" Dara asked sarcastically. "What gave you that idea?"

"If you would just listen to me for a second, I swear I won't bother you anymore after this."

Dara just kept on walking until they reached the bus stop and she had to cross her arms over her chest as she waited for the bus. Damn that bus, always taking so long. Now Donghae would have the chance to prattle on eventhough she made it clear she's not going to listen. Donghae stepped in front of her and repeated, "Just hear me out. I swear I'll leave you alone." He put his hands together in sort of a praying position. Dara shot him a deadly glare while tapping her foot and Donghae took that as a sign of acquiese.

"You know I think in some ways, I already knew that you knew about the bet," Donghae started. "Maybe I was just too—"

"Stupid?"

"Dense," Donghae corrected. "Or maybe I just wanted to... you know... deny that you already knew about the bet. Or maybe I was just too reckless or too caught up in winning that..." His voice trailed off while he ponder on the complexities of his cluelessness

"If you really think I'm going to listen to your busllshit for more than a minute, you're a lot more stupid than I originally thought," Dara said. "If you wanna say what you wanted to say for more than a minute, you better talk fast because time is ticking."

"Okay, okay," Donghae said taking a deep breah. "I'm here to offer you a deal."

Dara scoffed. "No, I don't want your deals. Oh look at that." She looked at her wristwatch. "One minute's up. Bye bye."

"Hear me out first, okay. This deal will be all in your favor," Donghae said in hurry as he saw the bus coming from afar.

"Not interested," Dara said as she too saw the bus and already took a step to get on it once it stopped.

"I'm giving you a chance to make a fool of me on this deal," Donghae said.

"Just in case the events of the last couple of days slipped your mind, I think I've already done that," Dara said wryly.