Months had gone by with Nakyung's successful avoidance of both Yunho and Junhyung. Doojoon was sinking back into his comfortable friendship with Dongwoon and he kept in contact with Yoseob. If Junhyung was avoiding her, she had not noticed. She had not seen him in school or heard any other stories or what number woman he was on.

She remembered meeting Kikwang for coffee, flinching the moment he said, "Noona!" and acknowledged how she still wore his necklace. Perhaps it did mean something--that she was in love with him? Hoksi. That he was the static in her life and she needed that? Hoksi. Nevertheless, his flushed face and big, pink round lips and vibrant eyes managed to bring a smile to her face. He looked older now, more mature. He listened intently, calmly, no longer the bouncing young boy she left behind for America. There was a quietness to him, not necessarily resigned, but attentive.

"It's about your confession..." She started, before explaining her predicament with Yunho and Junhyung. He did not interrupt. He listened to the whole story from start to finish. And then she praised him; no matter how cruel and selfish and stupid she was, he defended her, he answered her calls, he listened to her, and he didn't judge. And the necklace had to speak for something, didn't it?

Eventually, he convinced her to continue dancing and she worked under his company as a backup dancer. She couldn't sing for the life of her, so debuting as an idol was out of the question but dancing for groups with beautiful costumes was fun. It was time consuming, so it helped to take her mind off of things. And it gave her more time to spend with Kikwang. Their relationship was mellow, nothing strict or pressuring. They would see each other when they can. He was, after all, an idol with little time and paparrazi following him everywhere. But she got to watch him backstage. She got to perform concerts with him. That was enough.

It gave her something to do for the rest of the school year and the summer. What she did not expect, however, was the start of the new year with Junhyung sitting at a bench near the entrace gate. He was alone and his eyes were on her. The look on his face was neither angry nor happy. Confused.

She took a breath, broke eye contact, and began moving.

"Yoon Nakyung-ssi!" He called, but she didn't look back.

She walked beside Dongwoon towards their usual Japanese restaurant, arms linked, and relieved that the rest of the day went without any further mishaps.

"Noona, no really, the man is scary. He yelled the attendance. Who yells while taking attendance? And he speaks so quickly it's hard to keep up. Please help me with English!"

She tilted her head and sighed. "I don't speak English very well."

"But you spent a whole semester in America!"

"That doesn't mean anything, Woonie. I--"

"Nakyung-ssi." Junhyung stood before them, hands in his pocket, face as serious as she had ever seen it. "Can I talk to you? I think we've left things off on a bad foot."

She glanced away and Dongwoon puffed up his chest. Cute. "Noona doesn't really want to go down that road, Yong Junhyung. Please understand." They moved along, not meeting Junhyung's eyes.

And when they were far away, Nakyung whispered, "Gomawo."

It was a big dance in Nakyung's dance life. She was to audition for Prepix Crew, her favorite dance crew in Korea. She finished the stretching portion with no problem, though her flexibility was not nearly as good as many of the other girls. But she had no fear. She could always audition again. And again. And again. And with Kikwang supporting her off to the side, she did not care if she made it or not. Haw, the main choreographer and leader, walked before the dancers and announced that the choreography would be a couple's dance--he would teach the men's part and Maki would teach the girl's part.

The choreography was impossible. No, not impossible, but very very very very hard. It felt Nakyung was at least four steps behind on every move, that her turns were too slow and her slow moves were too slow. Maki moved her body in a way that Nakyung could not understand and she felt very awkward with every move and count. But she pushed forward, trying, trying, trying until

The doors swung open and a figure in baggy black clothes entered the room. He met Haw's eyes and, though Nakyung anticipated a scolding, smiled. They knew each other. And then the figure looked at her and she recognized those heart shaped lips and those eyes and Junhyung nodded his head towards her and began working at the choreo. As much as she tried not to watch him, she failed. She saw the way he sauntered about, hitting every beat perfectly. It bothered her. He was not allowed to be perfect. He was not allowed to be attentive and serious. He was not allowed to give a about anything, especially something she invested in.

Then Haw announced the partner pairs--randomly selected, though she doubted it.

Because as she pleaded to herself, not Junhyung, not Junhyung, not Junhyung, not Junhyung, anyone but Yong Junhyung.....

"Yoon Nakyung and Yong Junhyung..."

Junhyung did not even smile, even though she was 100% he schemed this too. He watched the floor, as if preparing himself, as he walked over to her and smiled. "I really want to apologize," he said, as the intro music began to play.

She did not meet his eyes. She kept her eyes on Kikwang, who watched them emotionlessly, though she saw the color flush on his soft cheeks. "Apologize? For what? I was the one who did wrong."

They struck the first bit of choreo, sharp and backing into smooth. Their steps fell in line, though he made it seem effortless while Nakyung struggled to keep up. "I was being a bad person. I pushed you to do what you did. And I'm sorry." She held her breath at the next move, where she wrapped her left arm around him and he swirled her around on his leg. He executed it swiftly. "I tried to apologize sooner, but..." They split apart to execute more choreo and when they were close, he said, "You've got to believe I would never do something like that."

She turned too sharply. "I-geot cheoreom?" Like that?

More choreo. "It was Hyunseung. He said he knew someone and he took it upon himself. I could never take someone's life--"

"Mwo?!" She stopped and glared at him now. It had worked so far, avoiding his eyes, but now she couldn't help herself. The judges, members of Prepix themselves, were watching them. She recovered, trying to leap back into choreography. "I don't want to know."

The piece ended otherwise flawlessly and they were given a half-hour to practice before judging. It passed without another word from Junhyung and Nakyung kept her eyes on Kikwang, focusing, trying not to make him worry, trying not to be the baggage in his already stressful story. And after running it over ten times, she took a break and approached Kikwang.

He sat against the windowsill, earphones in, patient and calm. "You're doing fine, noona," he said with a smile. "Don't let him get to you. Sugo haseyo. Work hard."

She took his hand--there were too many people around to hug him or kiss his rosy cheeks. She smiled and said, "Thank you."

After executing the choreography as best she could, Nakyung grabbed her things and prepared to leave with Kikwang. She had made a few mistakes, of course, but what was done was finished and all she could do was move on. She moved towards the door with Kikwang, relieved to go get coffee afterwards when Junhyung called behind her, "Yunho's dead and there was nothing I could do to stop it."

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I'm sorry for the hiatus! I got really distracted with school and then I mysteriously ended up getting a boyfriend who actually knew k-pop and it's hard to write a love story when you're in love because things get all muddled and well 

I'M BACK BAAAAABY.

And this is going to get  A LOT better.

I just had to kill off Yunho.

Sorry. :(