The morning came too soon. My alarm clock rang, waking me up. I looked around the room. The other girls were still sleeping soundly. I smiled and stretched my body, preparing to get out of bed. I yawned and headed the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I came back to the bedroom I woke the other girls up.

"Good morning.." Sey yawned and stretched in her bed.

"When did you come back last night? You weren't here when I came back to the dorm.." I asked while searching for clothes to wear. It didn't really matter what I wore because the stylist was supposed to give us other clothes to wear before we headed the recording.

"Two or three in the morning.. I don't know." Sey answered while scratching her head.

"Idiot." I threw a tshirt at her because that was the first thing I saw.

"Why are you giving me a B.A.P tshirt? Isn't it yours?" she asked after examining the shirt that landed next to her.

"It's mine." Yujin said and snatched it away from Sey's hands.

"I didn't know you have this shirt.." I said.

"Jongup gave it to me." Yujin said shyly. "But don't think anything weird, it was a new shirt!" she explained quickly, flustered.

"We didn't say anything.." I said while exchanging knowing looks with Sey. Something is fishy..

"Get dressed already, we will be late!" Eun Hee scolded.

"Yes, mom." we answered together.

~

"Good morning, girls." Jinu stood at our door, smiling.

"Good morning, oppa!" we greeted.

"Have some coffee, I just made it." Sey said and gave him a paper cup containing the hot drink.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to eat something? We have sandwiches." I offered.

"I'm fine." he answered. "Is everyone ready?"

"Sumi is in the bathroom, she will be right here." Yujin said.

Ten minutes later we headed out of the dorm. Jinu drove the van to the salon so we could get our hair and make up done. We had a "Simply K-pop" recording today. We are supposed to do "Mystery Guy" and our title song. After what seemed like forever we were finally ready.

"Be nice and greet everyone, especially the staff. You don't want to leave bad impression on them, and you can never know when you'll need them." Jinu said when he parked the van in Arirang's building parking lot.

"Yes, oppa."

"Let's go." we followed him to the desired floor.

"Oh, hey Jinu!" a tall man greeted him. I saw he had a tag with the program's name and logo on it, so I figured he was one of the program's staff.

"Hey, what's up?" Jinu asked, smiling.

"Great. I haven't seen you for a while."

"Yeah, I was busy."

"I heard your company have a new girl group.. Is it them?" the tall man asked, looking at us.

"Yes." Jinu turned to look at us as well. "Greet him."

"Hello, we are Peppermint, nice to meet you." We introduced ourselves and bowed.

"Nice to meet you." the man smiled. "Is this your first time here?"

"I was here before." I said.

"I see." the man smiled warmly. "Good luck today."

"Thank you." we bowed again.

The man bid goodbye to us and we were left alone again. Jinu led us to the set. After talking to a couple more staff members we got to our dressing room.

"We are going to practice both of your songs so the cameramen will know how to film you and you could adjust to this stage. They will call us when its your turn, so you can rest for the time being. I need to settle some things with them." Jinu said and left again. I took this time to chat with the stylist.

~

we rehearsed our songs several times, with and without our nametags. Now we were waiting to record our first song - "Mystery Guy". We were dressed like rockers and the clothes were really pretty. It's looks much better than the cheerleading outfits we have..

I sat in the dressing room and took several selfies out of boredom. I uploaded it to my instagram and read the comments I recieved.

I scrolled down my phone when I got a text from Yongguk - "Don't bite your lips like that." he reffered to one of the pictures I uploaded.

"Why?" I sent a reply.

"Because I might drop everything and come to see you if you keep doing this.." my face heated. He always knows what to say or do to make me blush, and then I look like an idiot.

"What stops you from doing it?" I decided to flirt.

"Don't tease me."

I tried to think of a proper answer when I got another text from him. It was a picture of him biting his lower lip ily. He looks so good!

"Don't you have work to do, ahjussi?" I replied. They should be practicing for their comeback right now because they are supposed to comeback after we finish promoting, which is in less than two months.

"We have a break."

"Oh." well, that makes sense.

"So, what did you think about the picture I sent you?" looks like he is not going to let it go..

"No comment."

"Fine, be like that. I should upload it, my fans will love it."

"Then date your fans as well." I typed back, annoyed. I can't help it, I feel jealous when other girls drool over him. I knew it was like that before we started dating and it's part of his job, it's just.. Annoying.

"Jealous?"

"I need to go."

"You know, a compliment from you once in a while will be nice.." was his reply, and my heart sank. We were just fooling around, why did he become so serious all of a sudden?

"Girls, we are starting the recording." Jinu informed us. I put my phone back in my bag and joined the other girls.

We recorded the song twice and it went well. We even had a couple of fans that came to watch us.

When we finished we changed clothes and did our hair and makeup for our title song and waited for our turn to record. This time our cheerleader uniforms were gray with green. The outfits were all identical, but our stylist added accessories that distinguished us from one another beside the different hair color we had.

While we waited I took my phone out to call Yongguk because I felt uneasy about the way our conversation ended earlier. I noticed he uploaded the picture with the caption "Do you like it?". Judging by the comments on his instagram, his fans loved it. Just like I thought..

I sighed and took a deep breath, trying to relax. I need to learn to ignore it and stop feeling jealous because of stupid things like this. It's not like it matters or change things between us, and it's not worth getting mad because of it.

I searched Yongguk's name in my contact list and called him.

"What is it?" Yongguk answered the phone. His tone was cold, without showing any emotion.

"Are you mad?" I asked. So stupid of me.. He is obviously mad.

"Don't you have things to do?" he asked impatiently.

"Why are you being like this? I didn't do anything wrong."

"I need to go." he said dryly and hanged up. I stared at my phone, bewildered. Why is he acting like this?

"What's wrong?" Sey asked, sitting beside me. It was hard to miss the face I made.

"Yongguk just hung up on me." I mumbled, still staring at my phone.

"Did you have a fight?"

"No, he just got weird all of a sudden."

"Talk to him when we get back to the company." Sey suggested.

"I will."

~

Finally the recording was over and we could go back to the company. It was tiring because we had to wait a lot without doing anything, but it also fun. We also got to watch other artists perform, and we could learn a lot from it.

"How about we go celebrate our first recording today?" Eun Hee offered when we were in the car on our way back to TS.

"Let's go!" Yujin beamed.

"I don't know.." Jinu mumbled.

"Please, oppa!" Sey tried using her aegyo. Soon the other girls followed.

"Alright." Jinu sighed, giving up. He always gets weak when the girls use aegyo on him, he just can't turn them down. But there is no way he is telling them that because if they find out about it they will use it for their own advantage.

"Yes!" the girls cheered. I sat in my seat quietly, my mind wandering to Yongguk and the weird argument we had.

~

"To our debut!" Sumi raised her glass of orange juice.

"To our debut!" we joined her. All of us had juice because it felt weird drinking with Jinu, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have liked it as well.

When we finished eating we went back to the company. Today was relatively free and we finished our schedules early.

I checked the time on my phone when I entered the company. It was almost 19:00. I thought about going to the studio to see Yongguk when I heard a familiar voice.

"Nice to see you again, Riri." I let those words sink. . What is he doing here?

"Get lost." I tried to sound as determined as I could.

"Not so fast, little sister." Hyesung smiled.

"I thought I told you not to look for me anymore." I glared at him.

"And I thought I told you it's not over yet." he retorted. I clenched my fists.

"Hyeri, is everything okay?" Jinu approached me, eyeing Hyesung.

"Give me five minutes with him." I told Jinu and dragged Hyesung to one of the rooms. I don't want to cause a ruckus in the hallway, and this way I can tell Hyesung off for good.

Jinu nodded and Hyeri and that guy entered one of the empty rooms nearby. When she wasn't looking he took out his phone and sent a text to Yongguk - "Come to the first floor quickly. Hyeri's brother is here."

He put his phone back in his pocket and waited near the room Hyeri was at, just in case something happened.

~

We stood in one of the conference rooms quietly. Just like yesterday, Hyesung still reeked from alcohol. He even wore the same clothes.. He probably haven't changed for a while, not to mention a proper shower.

"What do you want?" I asked impatienly.

"Give me money." he demanded and stretched his hand. I sighed. Of course he'll ask for money.. I'm his ATM and his bodyguard.. Well, I used to be. Not anymore.

"I don't have any." I said dryly. He snorted.

"Your'e famous." he stated.

"I'm not famous yet and I need to pay for my training,"

"So are you going to throw your brother to the dogs?" he questioned.

"You threw me away first." I said coldly. Blood related or not, I'm not going to show empathy to this . He doesn't deserve it.

"It wasn't like that!"

"Yeah, right." I scoffed. "Where were you when I had nowhere to go? You didn't check if I'm fine even once."

"Mom and dad would have kicked me out if I did."

"Then go ask money from mom and dad." I retorted.

"They kicked me out of the house two months ago." he said, burying his gaze on the ground.

"Good for them. They are probably tired of giving you money for gambling."

"Riri.." he tried to soften me. I'm not going to waver.

"You are an adult, act like one. If you need money, find a job and go to rehab."

"Your boyfriend is rich, right?" Hyesung suddenly changed the subject. My face paled. How did he know?

"I heard you are dating a rapper and that he is making quite a lot of money.. He is the one that was next to you yesterday, right?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"Stay away from him." I glared at him.

"Why? Don't you think he'll want to help his girlfrend's brother?" Hyesung caressed my cheek. It felt disgusting.

"If you approach him I will kill you myself, I won't wait for the debt collectors to do the job." I threatened.

"Suddenly acting so brave, huh?" he laughed. "You know he will dump you when he'll realize you are not so perfect like you claim to be.. He will just use you and get rid of you afterwards. That's what your'e worth."

"That's none of your business." I tried to stay composed. Getting angry won't help, it will only get Hyesung's target.

"You know how happy I was when mom and dad kicked you out?" Hyesung asked, smiling. I felt my heart sink. I thought I was already over it, but I guess I was wrong..

"Bastard."

"When they kicked you out I was back to being the center and the loved one in the family. Since you were born mom and dad always doted on you and completely forgot me. You were always the perfect one and I was the trouble maker that nobody cared about. Not even his own parents."

"That wasn't my fault."

"Of course it was. You always did so well and made them proud. If only you were less perfect.."

"I cared about you."

"Oh, right! Even when I treated you like you still followed me around all the time, asking for attention. You were so pathetic." he laughed while remembering it.

"You see? I did care."

"Mom and dad always got mad at me for ignoring you. This was also your fault."

"It wasn't my fault!" I unintentionally raised my voice.

"Whatever.. I don't care." he shrugged.

~

Yongguk stared at his phone's screen and he felt his blood boil. Why is that bastard looking for Hyeri again?

He grabbed his phone and rushed to the entrance floor. He scanned the hallway and the different rooms until his eyes landed on Jinu, who was waiting next to one of the conference rooms.

"Hey." Jinu smiled. "I'm sorry I bothered you, I just thought you would like to know about this.."

"Don't worry, you did great." Yongguk patted Jinu's back. "Thank you."

"No problem."

~

"Hyesung, go get help. Please."

"Don't tell me what to do." he raised his voice.

"I'm trying to help you." I insisted.

"If you want to help give me money."

"I don't have any."

"You are still as ty as you were when you were a kid." Hyesung suddenly flipped. I guess that's his true nature after all.. The mask is starting to fall.

"You don't have the right to call other people ty after the way you treated me through the years. You only used me for your own advantage."

"Well, that's the most useful thing to do with you beside selling you to whoever offers me more money."

At this, I snapped. I slapped him with all my power. His gaze turned vicious and vengeful. He dangerously approached me. I walked backwards until my back hit the wall.

", you think you can hit me?" he stood in front of me, blocking my way. I was about to answer him when I felt my cheek burn. He slapped me. I don't know what hurt more - The actual pain or the fact that my own brother just hit me.

"Never in your life put a finger on me again. No, never come find me. This was your last chance." I spoke coldly. I had no idea where I got the energy and the courage to do it, the words just came out of my mouth on their own.

I walked past him, going out of the room. I saw Yongguk and Jinu standing at the entrance. I passed both of them, ignoring their presence. I want to be alone now.

~

Yongguk opened the door just when Hyeri got slapped. In seconds, her attitude and aura changed. There was something else in her eyes, scarier. He has never seen her like this. She spoke coldly, with a lot of venom in her voice. He could even feel hatred and hurt in it, and he could understand why. 

She walked passed him, ignoring his presence.

"Go after her, I'll take care of that jerk." Jinu said and put his hand on Yongguk's shoulder.

"Thanks hyung." Yongguk smiled and hurried to follow Hyeri.

~

I stormed out of the company, ignoring the stares and weird looks people were giving me. I didn't care where I was going, I just wanted to be alone.

I walked for a while. My legs carried me somewhere, and when I looked up I saw I was in the park near my dorm.

I sat on the bench, bringing my legs to my chest. I leaned my head on my knees and let my tears fall. I closed my eyes, trying to process everything that happened.

After a few moments I felt someone sitting next to me. I ignored him and kept my eyes closed.

"Do you want to talk?" Yongguk asked softly.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I looked at him, my eyes still filled with tears.

"No. There are more important things than that at the moment." he smiled warmly. It made me feel better.

"You should stop being so nice to me. I'm really not worth it." I muttered, wiping the tears with the back of my hand.

"And you should stop deciding things for me." he retorted and brought his legs up, changing his sitting position.

There was a long silence until I decided to break it.

"My brother.. He wasn't always like that." I stared blankly in space while talking. "My first memory of him is actually when we are playing together." a small smile decorated my face while remembering it. I wish I could go back to that time..

Yongguk looked at me, waiting for me to continue my story.

"I don't know when exactly is started to go wrong, but at some point he started acting weird. From being a nice older brother that looked after me it became the complete opposite."

"What do you mean?" Yongguk asked, trying not to pressure or force me to talk.

"I remember one time when I was a kid he came to pick me up from school and we went to the playground. We played together for a while and then he just disappeared. He told me to wait for him because he will pick me up when he'll finish some errands, so I played by myself. It was fun, but at some point it started to rain, and it only got stronger." I took a deep breath, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

"Did he come back?"

"No. I was waiting for him in the rain, just where he left me, because he said he'll pick me up and I trusted him. I didn't even look for shelter from the rain because I was scared he'll come back and won't find me." my tears were falling freely right now. "After  few hours mom came to get me. By the time she found me I was already soaked, and I was hospitalized for three weeks because I had pneumonia."

"And your brother?"

"He got scolded pretty badly. I even felt bad for him so I tried to cheer him up with drawings and little presents I made for him, but he just threw everything to the trash and kept telling me I'm annoying and that I should leave him alone."

"That's harsh." Yongguk mumbled.

"Wait, it gets worse." I chuckled bitterly. Yongguk looked at me, bewildered.

"A few years after, there was a toy I really wanted to buy. I saved all my allowance and kept it in a piggy bank I had. I really treasured it and I used to count my money everyday to see how much more I have to collect to buy that toy. After a few months I finally had enough money to buy it. I went to my room to empty the piggy bank, but it was broken and all the money was gone." a bitter smile formed on my face. "Do you want to guess who took it?" I looked at Yongguk.

"Bastard." he muttered and I noticed he clenched his fists.

"I cried the whole day. Eventually mom and dad bought it for me because they wanted to cheer me up, but it didn't help much. Of course Hyesung never got punished for it, although it was obvious he was the culprit."

"What did he do with the money?" Yongguk asked curiously.

"He bought a PC game."

"What the hell." Yongguk kicked a stone he found on the ground. It landed far from us because of the strength he used.

"He kept taking money from me even afterwards. It didn't matter to him if I needed it or not.. If he saw me getting bullied by other people he would just laugh at me and keep walking, not even trying to help me. If he was in the mood he would even help them sometimes. At home he would ignore me or order me around to do things for him." I kept counting the things he did. My cheeks were already wet from crying.

"What kind of person does that to his own family?"

"A twisted one." I sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry.." Yongguk said sincerely and grabbed my hand, holding it tightly in his.

"When he was in highschool he got addicted to gambling. That was when things really went wrong. He started having debts because he always lost, so he either took money from me or sent the debt collectors after me. Remember I told you I learned self defense?"

"Yes."

"I learned it by watching videos on youtube to protect myself from them. They were really harsh and my brother would do anything to get out of trouble."

I noticed Yongguk's grip on my hand tigethened, even though he was already holding it tightly.

"When he became an adult the alcohol joined because it helped him forget about his problems. One bottle became two and at the end he was drunk almost all day long. It reached to a state that he can't function when he is sober."

"Did he hit you?" Yongguk asked carefuly, and I could tell how hard it was for him to say this words out loud.

"No. He did a lot of bad things, but today was the first time he actually laid a finger on me."

"It was one time too much." Yongguk grumbled.

"You know what's the most pathetic thing? All this time I didn't even know why he treated me so badly. I always tried to get his attention and do things to make him happy even if he ignored me and gave me a hard time. I just wanted affection. I was such an idiot. I actually grew up thinking this is normal and that all the families are like that. Until today.." a new wave of tears made its way down my cheeks and I couldn't control my sobbing anymore.

Yongguk wrapped me in a tight hug and I burried my face in his chest while he rubbed my back slowly.

"It's okay.. It's in the past now." he said in my ear.

"I.. Just.." I pulled away, staring into his eyes.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me if it's hard or if you don't want to. I won't force you."

"I want to." I stated and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "He told me he hated me because mom and dad loved me and neglected him. He was jealous and wanted me to fail or disappear so he'll be the favorite son again. He was actually happy when I left."

My eyes were still closed because I didn't want to see his reaction. I tried to calm myself down when I felt Yongguk's lips touch mine. It was soft and he didn't force me to kiss him back or to open my mouth to deepen the kiss. He was just.. There.

"You are not pathetic and you are more than worthy of my attention and my affection." he said and kissed my forehead gently. I opened my eyes, only to see him looking at me with affection and adoration. I recognized that look.. I saw a similar one on Yuijn's father when he looked at his family. It made me smile and it felt warm.

"Is it bad that I hate him?" I asked. "I know we are blood related, but I don't feel any relation to him at all."

"No. You have every right to not like him." he gently moved a few hairs from my face and tucked them behind my ear.

"You won't hate me because of it?"

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "I support you. Whatever you decide to do, I'm here with you and for you. Don't worry about it."

I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in the crook of his neck. I rested my head there while he caressed my hair. When I relaxed a little I planted a few kisses on his neck.

"Feeling better now?" Yongguk asked, looking worriedly at me.

"Yes." I planted another kiss on his neck. "Thank you."

"Silly.." he sighed and kissed my lips. I kissed him back happily. I put all my emotions in this kiss, including gratitude, love and relief.

"Wow. That was one hell of a kiss." Yongguk commented when we parted, grinning from ear to ear.

"I was saving it for a special occasion.." I tried to joke.

"Are you okay?" he cupped my face, worried look in his eyes.

"I'm much better now." I assured him. "I guess I just needed to talk.."

"You always have me if you want to talk, okay? About anything."

Instead of answering him I just pecked his lips. He smiled.

"You know, when I left the company I actually considered getting drunk somewhere, but I'm such a nerd that I gave up because I have schedules tomorrow.." I got up, moving my legs nervously. Yongguk got up as well, approaching me.

"Alcohol won't solve your problem, it will only hide it for a while." he poked my forehead.

"I know." I smiled.

"Ready to go home?" he asked, grabbing my hand. I was grateful he changed the subject and acted like nothing happened. It was exacty what I needed at the moment.

"Let's go."

Author's Note:

Long chapter again.. I wanted to finish the thing with her brother, that's why it's lengthy.

Thanks for reading, commenting, etc.!

M.