Stay With Me [Ongoing]

CHAPTER 17

   
   

    

A new project he's working on occupied Jiyong's time for the past days. He has been really busy that he cannot find time to visit Dara again after their last talk in front of her apartment building after the art exhibit.
   

He would always send her a message and she would respond but recently, she has never returned any of his messages and he started to worry. Could it be that she is avoiding him? But why? That's impossible, right?
   

"I have something to tell you when we see each other again."
   

That was what she said when they parted ways, and the memory of it had been crossing his mind from time to time. So, there's no way she would avoid him, right?
  

He pushes the thoughts off as he drives his way to the park, carrying with him some snacks for the kids. On his way there, he passes by his sanctuary. This made him to stop his car just few meters away from the place. When was the last time he had been there again? Oh, right. That time before he met Dara.
 

The place had provided him an inspiration— Particularly that girl he had seen for only a few times but enough to help him pass through the struggle of not being able to produce a new music after his brother and Taeyeon's engagement party. And although he had only seen her back profile, for some reason, he knew that he has slowly moved back to track just by that sight.
   

Butterfly, that is what he calls her; The girl on the other side of the wall.
  

He smiles at the thought. The girl resembles Dara— Her back profile, that is. And he would be lying if he say that it never crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe, they are the same person. But then again, she never mentioned about that place... About the sanctuary.
   

With her in his mind, he gets moving until he's slowing down near the park. He stops the car to the side and shuts the engine. Carrying the snacks, he steps out of the vehicle and with light feet, makes his way to that particular location.
  

But the sight of a familiar figure slows down his movements and every step starts to get heavy. His smile starts to slip away.
  

"What are you doing here?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth as he finally stopped, few steps away from the figure.
   

At the sound of his voice, Seunghyun looks up. With a final explanation about the activity to Mino, he approaches him.
  

"What are you doing here?" His friend asked back, chuckling.
   

As his usual excuse, Jiyong raises the box on his arms. The sight made Seunghyun to roll his eyes and turns his back away from him.
   

"Right. The kids." He claps his hand to catch the children's attention and from their activity, they all look up at him. "Alright, monsters. Time to take a break. Jiyong here brought some snacks," he announced.
  

It did not take long for them to jump on their feet and run toward their direction. Jiyong distributed their foods, and they thanked him back in the process.
  

Once done, he joined his friend who is now seated at the nearby bench. He handed him his share before sitting next to him.
  

"She's not here," Seunghyun said and unwrapped his sandwich.