Let's Not Fall In Love

Chapter 10

Only two sets of eyes weren't amused at the bizarre happennings between Heechul and Dara. One pair belonged to someone who appeared to be smiling lightly but whose eyes, on closer inspection, did not mirror the mirth alighting his lips. It would take someone who knew him well to recognize the subtle signs. To the starstruck Kiko the man at her side looked cool and calm but the truth was that the Dragon was steaming and figurative smoke was now starting to escape his flaring nostrils.

The other pair of eyes wasn't as subtle. The owner's face was bathed in frustration as she marched angrily towards her sworn sister who just now failed to follow through with her sworn oath to save her from a lifetime behind bars.

"Unnie!!! You better be thankful you're still on stage." She whispered furiously behind Dara, who immediately stiffened as she remembered the promise she made to CL that she could no longer fulfill. Her shoulders drooped and she turned imploring eyes on her friend and mouthed an 'I'm so sorry' to her friend.

CL gave her an eyeroll and proceeded up center as the MC called her to come forward. Dara walked off the stage in remorse at her failure as a friend. A few whisperings scattered around the crowd as they noted the brief but somewhat heated interchange from the once rumored L couple.

CL turned her game face on and lifted her chin high up in the air as she approached the MC. As the two obnoxious guys started to up the bidding for her date she tried but failed to tune everything out and tapped her foot restlessly on the floor while clenching and unclenching her fists. She narrowed her eyes at the two jerks who were both determined to win a date with her. It was obvious that it wasn't her they were after but it was the satisfaction of winning over the other.

Her eyes were starting to glint with murderous intent and she eyed the mic stand and was actually now contemplating the probability of her being able to launch the thing at the two jerkwads seated on the front row. She was no longer thinking about the implications to her career if she ends up slaughtering the two pigs. She shuddered in disgust at the thought of spending alone time with any of them. She'd do anything to get away from spending a single moment with them let alone eating a full meal with either of them.

Her hand was starting to reach out for the stand when a voice from the back shouted, "Ten grand."

Everybody craned their necks towards the back. A hooded, masked figure standing at the back was raising his auction paddle. Mic stand forgotten CL's hand dropped to her side as she tried to figure out who just bidded for her.

"Anyone bidding for more than ten grand?" The MC called out pointedly at the two previously rabid bidders sitting in the front row. The two were now elbowing each other daring the other to do the bidding but they both know they didn't have enough cash to top that amount.

"It seems that we now have a winner. Mr. Mystery Man in Black, please come up on stage and meet your date." The MC invited the man.

CL held her breath as she watched the man in black approach the stage. As the figure came closer her brows furrowed because the man's saunter seemed quite familiar. The man removed the hood from his head and took off his black mask as he went up the stage.

CL shrieked loudly and ran excitedly towards the man who just saved her from committing two accounts of manslaughter. The crowd oohed as she launched herself into the man's arms. "Panda!!! Of all people I would never have thought that you'd be the one to save me tonight. Thank you, Sunbae!"

The man returned her hug and grinned. "That's a first. You calling me Sunbae. I should do this all the time, then. Who knows someday maybe you'd even call me Oppa?"

CL let go of him and said, "Don't hold your breath, Rat. That day ain't coming." But then she smiled as she saw the two jerks arguing with each other from her peripheral vision. "But you're still way better than those two."

"Minzy and Bom called me yesterday and told me to stand by just in case Dara flakes out. Daesung or Taeyang couldn't make it and, you know, Tabi. He's even flakier than Dara."

CL grabbed his ear and twisted it as he said those words, "Yah! You were already here and you allowed that farce of a bidding to continue before doing anything??!!??" She smiled serenely at the MC belying the vicious hold she had on the rat's ear and said, "Sir Alvin, you may move on with the next bid I'm bringing my date out with me." She continued to drag a yelping Seungri off the stage by the ear uncaring of the curious attention they both got from the audience.