BIGBANG Next Door: Bang Epoque

PART 8 - DARLING

Sure enough, later that day, Seunghyun and I went out for a walk but it was pretty much just catching up on the missing weekends we could've shared together and talking about what was going on in the residents of Bang Epoque's lives.
One of the things I was extremely curious over was all of their time off,"So," I start off, trying to be comfortable as the newfound heat being transferred by the wind blew into my face,"when do you guys think you'll be going back? I mean, you guys have been here awhile so..sometime soon?"
He shrugs,"I think the deal was supposed to be six months but it's been almost seven.."
I watch him as if it were weird that they'd stayed for over their personal period but then I remembered all that's happened to them.
I guess I'd want a long break to recover if any of this happened to me, too..
"Have they contacted any of you guys at all?"
He shrugs again,"Usually YG talks to Jiyong about that kinda of stuff but I don't think he's heard anything either."
"Have any of you guys asked Ji?"
He's silent as he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans before he shakes his head with a deep sigh,"I think most of us want to lay low just a bit longer. We all know Jiyong is as anxious as ever to get back into the spotlight but..." he looks at me up and down, a cheerful smirk on his lips,"I've enjoyed the relaxation..and," his smirk starts turning into a grin,"I never would have met you otherwise."
I scoff quietly in bashfulness and nearly stop in my tracks when
Seunghyun suddenly intertwines his fingers with mine.
I look up at him and he looks down at me with worry,"Did..did you not want-?"
I put our hands in my sweatshirt pocket to prove a point, feeling blush creep onto my cheeks as I smile with even more bashfulness.
When the feeling passes, I look up at Seunghyun again and see that his ears are slightly pink and that his cheeks are moving underneath his facemask, almost like he was trying to hide a smile.

After walking for a couple of hours and eventually passing around fifteen different coffee shops before we turned around and made our way back to our neighborhood, Seunghyun finally put his foot down. Literally.
He stopped and I nearly fell backwards because his hand was still holding mine in my pocket,"Seunghyun, what-?"
He pulled me inside a building to reveal a nearly empty coffee shop.
Some teenage stragglers sat at tables while they worked on assignments or were on their blogs on laptops. An older woman stood at the counter and lit up when she saw us, like she was happy to see costumers other than hipster teens,"Good afternoon, what can I..?"
She suddenly seems to examine Seunghyun's face with a look like she could see right underneath his facemask.
I feel fear well up inside me until she says with a gleeful smile on her face,"Jiyong told me about you two!"
I raise my eyebrows and Seunghyun pulls down his facemask as the woman says,"Any friend of Jiyong is a friend of mine. Anything you want is on the house."
I blink a few times as I try to make sense of the situation that was currently going on but Seunghyun just smiles as he orders himself an iced coffee.
The lady looks at me and it took me a few seconds to realize that she wanted me to order,"Oh! Uh.."
I order a caramel latte and she smiles as she picks up two large cups, one clear and plastic while the other is white paper, before working on our orders without ringing anything up.
Seunghyun leads me to a small table in the back. Once we sit down, I stare at him with a confused expression like I was demanding an explanation.
He chuckles when he notices and says quietly,"Jiyong has come to this place since before debut, he loves it. She knows who is but she swore not to tell anybody," the old lady waves over at us and we wave subtly back,"seems to be working well so far.."
I nod as I take this information in,"So..why the free drinks?"
"She gives him free drinks and snacks but he pays for them anyway, kinda a 'sweet gesture' thing."
"That's sweet of him.." I mumble while I think. I never thought of it until now of how I missed Jiyong's sweet gestures when we were "close".
The old lady walks over to our table before placing two cups in front of us. A clear plastic cup filled with iced black coffee for Seunghyun and a tall, paper cup filled with what I assumed was a caramel latte.
She bows,"Enjoy and tell Jiyong that I miss him."
"Of course, noona," Seunghyun smiles.
She walks away with a bright smile and a bit of blush on her cheeks. When she's behind the counter, Seunghyun suddenly stands up and grabs my hand, leading me towards the door.
"Whoa, where's the fire?" I ask as Seunghyun stops at the left corner of the counter before putting twenty dollars into the tip jar and leaving the coffee shop entirely.
I can notice a small smirk on his lips as he says,"I want to show you something.."

He took me to our little backroads area all the while telling me to keep my eyes shut as we walked through the trees.
He kept reminding me to keep them closed and after many times of telling him that they were, he told me to open them. I oblige to see a couple blankets spread out on the ground and a cooler next to them.
"What..?"
"It's a picnic," he says almost childishly as he rushes over and sits down on a pink plaid blanket.
I laugh as he crosses his legs and pats the spot next to him, I make my way over and sit next to him,"This is so cliche."
He giggles as he gets two Coca-Cola cans and some chocolate-covered strawberries out of the cooler.
"Okay, now it's a rom-com," I laugh,"Where's the mariachi band hiding?"
We both start dying of laughter at how ridiculous this was before he reaches the strawberries out to me.
I slightly wince,"Would you be upset if I told you I don't like chocolate?"
He pouts,"Will you, at least, try one?"
Knowing that I can't resist his little pout, I roll my eyes before grabbing one out of the container and taking a small bite.
His eyes begin to sparkle and I lick my lips before I say,"Actually, I think I'll have some more.."

We sat there for hours, talking and laughing like there would never be any sort of end to it.
I wondered if that's what Seunghyun and I's relationship would feel like forever if it ever went on for that long..I wondered if he felt the same.
When the sun started going down, Seunghyun checked his watch,"It's almost 8.." he sounds almost disappointed.
I sigh before I think for a few seconds,"Well.." his ears perk up,"while we're still going along with the whole 'cliche-teen-rom-com-movie' thing..why don't we meet here again at 11?"
"Really? Why?"
"Stargaze, talk..whatever.." He wiggles an eyebrow from my words and I shove him playfully.
A childish, joyful grin was on Seunghyun's face and I knew that I'd never seen him so happy in the past months that I knew him.

At 11, I started walking out of the house and peeked at the Bang Epoque house to make sure all the lights were off.
All of them were off but a single light in a window on the top floor that shined with a radiating yellow light, it was the room across the hall from Seunghyun's bedroom but I had no idea whose room it was.
Well, because I'm such a nosy person, I decided to try and figure out whose room it was.
I glanced at my watch.
11:01. I'm sure Seunghyun won't question anything if I'm a few minutes late..
I stood on my tiptoes at first and squinted to try to increase my visibility.
After I couldn't make anything out, I stepped back a few steps and did the same thing as before..still nothing.
My next technique was to bounce up to try and see inside. It seemed to be working but the fifth time I jumped up, I saw a figure darken the window before I gasped and huddled into one of my house's bushes.
I looked up at the window after waiting ten second and saw a glance of black hair before they moved away from the window.
I sigh peacefully but nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly hear a voice behind me,"What are you doing-?"
I nearly punch Seunghyun in the face, missing him by a millimeter,"D-don't do that!" I stutter as I try and slow down my heartbeat to a normal pace.
"Sorry.." he places a comforting hand on my back,"but, seriously, what are you doing?"
"I.." I took in a few breathes,"was trying to figure out whose room that is.."
He raised an eyebrow,"Why?"
"I don't know, just curious."
He sighs while slightly laughing and shaking his head, he points to the window,"That's Jiyong's room."
I feel my heart stop,
Oh God..he probably saw me..
"So," he claps his hands,"it is," he looks at his watch,"11:06..shall we continue our plans?"
I look up at the window again and see that the light is shut off. I look back at Seunghyun and smile, leading the way to our destination.

seunghyun

I tried sneaking back into the Bang Epoque house when the sun started rising at roughly 6am.
Sarah had fallen asleep a few minutes before I left, nothing happened, of course, just some making out before she dozed off.
I hated leaving her side but what would the other guys think if I didn't come home during the night?
I entered the front door as quietly as I could and then made my way into the living room. I tiptoed across the carpet while leading myself blindly to the stairs.
I suddenly jump when I hear a nearly silent click and a lamp on one of our end tables turns on.
I look over to see Jiyong with his arms folded across his chest while sitting on the couch. His eyebrows creased his forehead and his lips were in a harsh downward curved line. He was pissed.
His left foot rested on the edge of the coffee table while his right leg was crossed over, his foot moved up and down on the coffee table like he couldn't control his nerves.
"What the hell, Seunghyun," his tone was almost void of emotion but there was still a hint of bitterness, almost like he knew where I had been the whole time,"is sneaking out one of your news 'things'? Or, maybe, you had somewhere to be at.." he checked his wrist watch,"six in the morning."
He continued to look angrier the more I just stood back in silence so I just sighed,"Ya know," I inched closer to him, pinching the bridge of my nose,"I don't see how that's any of your business."
He springs up and out of his seat, a scowl clear on his face,"Because, dammit, I'm the leader of this damn group and I deserve to know know where the actual hell my members are!"
He slams his hands on the coffee table as he mumbles,"I deserve to know.."
I stare at him as he has his temper tantrum. I could tell that this was about more than just where I was.
He knew who I was with, too,"Ji, I was-"
"No. I know where you were," he interrupts me,"she was there, too.."
The fact he couldn't say Sarah's name was almost sad but I guess I couldn't blame him. Oh wait, yes I could.
All of us noticed how gloomy he still was, even after four months, he still won't admit it. He still wouldn't admit that he was still heartbroken over Sarah. He still had feelings for her but acted like he was okay.
It was horrible acting but at least the poor guy was trying.
"Ji-"
"Don't..I just want to know one thing.." he sniffs quietly, trying to mask the tears shining in his eyes,"Does she miss me?" he sounded pitiful, like he'd have a mental breakdown if I said no.
I sigh before I nod,"Yes," a slight smile shows up on his lips,"but only as a friend."
His face falls again.
I was only saying the truth, the complete, bitter, and honest truth.
Jiyong blinks a few times to hide his disappointment.
"Ji," he looks up at me,"she misses her friend," I try to make him feel better but he just starts dragging his feet towards the stairs,"and I guarantee," I say loudly to get his attention, he stops in his tracks with his back towards me,"you're the best one she's ever had."
Jiyong looks over his shoulder to look at me, silent tears streaming down his face.
He shakes his head ruefully before saying with a cracked voice,"No," he bites his bottom lip as another tear falls,"I guarantee that if you ask her yourself, I'm sure she'll say it's you."
He begins slumping up the stairs and I didn't say anything else to stop him.
I just sighed before I sat on the couch, laid down, and dozed off completely.