The drive to the beachfront was supposed to be long with it being almost 2 to 3 hours counting traffic.  However, Bobby strangely felt like time flew by in the car.  The moment he woke up, he hopped in the car and took another nap, and seemingly felt like with the snap of his fingers, he was already at the beachhouse.  He was in the same car as his parents while Jiun and Jeeyoung rode with Nari and her mom.  They all met up outside the beachhouse and the surrounding area was beautiful.  The sea was just a short 5 minute walk along a boardwalk and the water itself was crystal clear.  The sand looked soft without any rocks or broken shells in it and all the trees and plants had the glowing summer green to it.  The weather for the weekend was supposed to be perfect summer weather where the sun shone bright, leaving warmth on their skin, but not too hot where it was uncomfortable to be outside.  The sweet, salty seabreeze travelled against Bobby and made him feel like he was truly in paradise.  A place of peace and serenity.

Bobby and his brother helped put all the food, bags, and extra belongings in the house once they parked the cars.  Everyone else did their part by putting things away in their assigned rooms or just in the general kitchen area.  The place itself looked amazing.  There were two floors with a patio on the ground floor and a balcony on the top floor.  It was painted white with black and seashell accents.  The entire house was surrounded by sand, allowing beachgrass to grow in front of the house like a fence.  The inside followed the beach theme with a simple and bright feel.  The furniture was all wooden and fit the go with the flow attitude.  It was the perfect spot for them to enjoy the weekend.  By the time they were all settled, it was around the time of the afternoon.  Bobby just stood around in the living room area confused, not thinking that setting up the house would take that long.

“Well, we could all get started on lunch,” Nari’s mom said as she gestured to all the parents.

“Yup,” Bobby’s mom agreed, “the kids can all go exploring the area and we’ll just call you when it’s ready.”  Jiun and Jeeyoung nodded, waving at the parents as they left through the front door hand in hand.  Bobby watched them leave and just wandered into the kitchen with the parents since Nari was upstairs putting things away in her room.

“Why don’t you go see what is taking Nari so long so you guys can head to the beach?  Maybe check out an area where we can all sit around?” Bobby’s dad said, noticing his son just awkwardly standing in the kitchen watching them prepare the food.  Bobby just nodded and went up the stairs slowly, trying to avoid creaking.  He wanted to try to scare her so that they could start off this trip with a laugh, hopefully.  If she punched him, at least she would laugh at his pain.  Either way, he liked her smile.  He was looking forward to it.

Once he got to the top of the stairs, he started peeking in different rooms, but the first 3 were empty.  There were 4 rooms in total.  One for his parents, Jiun and Jeeyoung, Nari and her mom, and one for Bobby.  He asked if he could be alone so he could practice without disturbing anyone and his parents gladly agreed.  They didn’t want Bobby disturbing anyone while he worked, knowing well that their son didn’t practice quietly.

The last room to check was most likely Nari’s, so he walked up and saw that it was open just a crack.  He had a sneaky grin on his face and went to peek inside to make sure she was in there.  He crouched down on his feet with his knees bended to prevent a large shadow being shown in the room.  When he peered in through the small gap, Bobby stumbled back a little out of surprise.

“Oh ,” he whispered, covering his mouth.  In that split second, he saw Nari standing with her back to the door and she was getting clothes on the bed.  She had shorts on, but she probably was changing into some swim wear so she could go into the water and didn’t have a top on, allowing Bobby to see her .

Is this how she felt when she saw me in the changing room? He thought, feeling his hands starting to sweat.  It was a good nervous feeling.  No.  She got pissed at you that time.

Bobby decided to take another peek to check if she was done so that he could try again.  Instead, Nari had bended over to get her bikini bra that was on the other side of the bed and then put it on.  Bobby knew he should look away,  but he couldn’t.  It wasn’t until he saw her reach behind her back to tighten it that he decided to look away.

Bobby sat back down on the floor and crawled to lay against the wall beside the door.  His face was getting hot and something felt weird.  He shook his head, trying to ignore what he saw.

What the hell were you even doing? He thought.  Why were you watching her?  What kind of weird--

Bobby’s mind was interrupted when he saw a shadow shed over him.  He looked up from the ground and saw Nari standing over him, fully clothed.  She looked at him curiously, waiting for him to say something.

“Uh,” he started.  Bobby’s mind was drawing a blank, unsure of how he could get himself out of this situation.  “Hi.”  He mentally slapped himself and looked at Nari’s face to try to read it and figure out what she was thinking.

“What are you doing on the ground?  Next to my room?” She emphasized the last part to show that she wanted an answer for that particular part of her question.

“I, uh, wanted to scare you,” he mumbled.

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Um, I decided it wasn’t a good idea?”  He knew she heard him say it as a question rather than an answer, but she decided not to pester him more.

“Ok,” Nari’s voice trailed off, “let’s go then.”  She offered her hand and helped Bobby get up from the floor.

“Thanks.”  The two of them walked down the stairs together and out the door to the beach using the boardwalk.  They carried their flip-flops, not wanting to go through the trouble of walking on the sand with them on.

“The water is really pretty,” Nari said as they got to the shorefront.  She dipped her feet in and smiled.  “And it’s just the right temperature too.”

Bobby walked closer and also tapped his foot inside to feel it, but quickly retracted when he realized how cold it was.

“You’re such a liar.”

“Come on, Jiwon, don’t be such a baby.”  Nari went further into the water and let the waves reach below her knees.  “It feels great.”

“Nah, I’m fine over here,” he walked a few steps away from the shore and sat himself down.  “I’ll just soak in the rays for now.  I need the tan.”

“Whatever, you’re missing out, Jiwon.”  Bobby watched as Nari splashed in the water, holding her flip flops in one hand and putting her hair behind her ear with the other.  She was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt that opened a bit on the sides, allowing Bobby to see some parts of the bra part on her swimsuit.  He just shook his head and sighed.

“Stop it,” he said to himself, “don’t think about it.”  His mind was slowly reverting back to the moment where he caught her topless just a few moments before.  Bobby’s conscious slapped himself again and tried to focus on another problem at hand.

“Should I tell her to call me Bobby now?”  Nari had referred to him as Jiwon, which was fine, but she said it twice in a row so it sounded off.  He felt like he was hiding something every time she called him Jiwon.  “But telling her requires telling her the truth about who I really am.  Can she handle that?  Can I handle that?”

After getting the email from YG last night, that was one of the only things on his mind.  He was going to leave ia soon to go back to Korea and start preparing for his career.  The summer with Nari was really nice and made him realize that he doesn’t want to lose contact with her at all.  But can he go on with his life not knowing her anymore?  The idol life was an intense one.  Can Nari really be a part of that?  He barely had time for his own family.

“Hey!” Bobby’s head shot up and looked over at Nari who was waving at him.  She started walking toward him from the water.

“What are you so deep in thought about?”

“Nothing.”

“I was calling you so I could throw my stuff to you rather than coming over here, but I guess not.”  Bobby just shrugged as she dropped her flip flops next to him.  However, he gulped and his eyes started to widen as she removed her shorts.  Nari shimmied out of them and put them on top of her flip flops and Bobby just watched.  He turned his head down when she started pulling her shirt up to put over her head.  Nari noticed and just laughed as she folded it, bent down, and put it on top of her shorts.

“The tables have turned,” she whispered next to his head, causing chills to go down Bobby’s spine.  He didn’t respond and she giggled as she stood up to turn around to walk back to the water.

Bobby looked up again and saw her entering the water and she was just wearing a bikini.  He wasn’t sure if he should look away or not.  It’s not like she was doing anything wrong.  She was at the beach, having fun in the water like a normal person.  Bobby just groaned and threw his body back to lay down on the sand.  He really didn’t want to deal with this and stared at the clouds passing by above him.

“Why are you doing this to me?” He said to no one in particular.  “I’ve been a good boy lately.  I don’t think I really deserve this headache.”  He closed his eyes and decided to ignore his problems with a nap.  It didn’t feel like he went to bed last night anyways.  He had the energy, but it didn’t feel like he really got it.  What he did feel, however, was how warm the sun felt against his skin and how great it felt.

“What a beautiful sunny day,” he smiled and went on to put his hands behind his head.  As he laid down soaking up the sun, he felt a shadow come over him.

“Oh my god, what happened to the sun?”  Bobby cracked open one eye and shook in shock with a gasp.  Nari was standing over him, looking down at him.  Her hands were crossed over her body and she was shivering a little.

“I forgot to grab a towel before we left and I don’t really want to put my dry clothes over wet clothes.  It’ll just make it wet and I might get sick on the way back.”  Bobby just laid down there like a statue, unsure of what to do in this situation.  It felt like all he could do was accept it.  There was nothing else he could do.  Just let a wet Nari shiver above him.

“Um, so what do you want to do?” Bobby finally said, sitting up and moving a little bit to see her properly.  He just kept his eye contact with her because if his eyes started wandering, then he didn’t know what else would rise with his anxiety.

“I don’t know,” she sat down next to him and scooted closer so that there was maybe 2 inches between their bodies.  “I guess I’ll just sunbathe until I dry up properly.”  Bobby just nodded and laid back down.  If he was lucky, she would just take a nap next to him, avoiding any conversation.  He felt the sand next to him settle as Nari laid down beside him.  She poked him and Bobby had to turn his head to see her just smiling at him.  She shifted her body so that she was leaning on her side with her head propped up with one hand and her arm resting on her waist.

She is doing the freaking Titanic , he thought.  Bobby just sighed.

“Yes?”

“I’m still cold.”

“The sun will warm you up soon,” he said through his teeth.  “Just be patient.”

“I have an idea,” she scooted closed to them so only a sheet of paper would separate their bodies.  Bobby in air as she did so and Nari suddenly reached over his body to grab his arm and placed it over her.  In the entire process, Bobby felt his shirt and arm getting wet from Nari’s contact.  Her skin and bikini didn’t dry enough from the sun, so the droplets were still there.  He just stared at her with wide eyes as his mind processed the fact that his hand was behind her waist, as if pulling her closer.  He wasn’t doing it, but his unconscious seemed to want to do so.

“Better,” she snuggled up closer to him and her head was under his chin.  She sighed under him while Bobby stopped breathing.

“I feel warmer already.”  Bobby just looked around frantically around him, not seeing anyone else on the beach.  He couldn’t move anything.  He was stuck in the position.  Not that he was complaining.  Much.

What the hell is going on? He thought.  Bobby could feel himself about to cry from the amount of emotions he was feeling.  Frustration, confusion, anger, a little bit of happiness, and maybe some gratefulness.

“Um, N-Nari?” His voice cracked as he spoke up and Nari just looked up at him.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”  Nari just smirked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you doing this?” Bobby paused before saying his last word to add emphasis.  “Are you ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be ok?” She replied in a different tone.  Bobby just fell silent, not knowing how to respond to that.  Nari watched Bobby’s face change every so often as he was trying to figure out what to say or do.

“You’re cute.”  Bobby’s face whipped back to Nari.

“Huh?” Before he could even give a coherent sound to respond, Nari swung her leg over Bobby’s body and sat on him, just below his stomach and around his waist.  Bobby was feeling the tears about to fall because he had no idea what was happening.  He needed some clarity, but he also didn’t want this to stop, wanting Nari to just keep doing whatever she was planning.

“Nari,” he started.  She cut him off by leaning down with both her hands on each side of his head.  She had a different look on her face.  The sounds of the waves in front of them started to get louder and felt closer.  Bobby was able to feel little remnants of the waves touching his feet.

“Yes?”

“What is going on?” Bobby whispered since her face was so close to his.

“What do you think is going on?” Nari said as if she was talking to a child.

“I don’t know,” Bobby was afraid of the answer, but at the same time, wish it was what he was thinking.

“Why don’t I help you figure it out?”  Nari started leaning down closer to Bobby’s face and he finally knew what was happening.

Holy , he thought.  Behind Nari’s head, Bobby saw a wave starting to come but he didn’t care.

If we get washed away, at least I kissed Nari, he thought and started to pucker his lips.  Thank you beach gods.  Before Nari and Bobby’s lips could make contact, Bobby felt the wave splash on him first.  The problem was that it was directly on his face.

What? He thought.  Bobby opened his eyes and closed them again as he felt the water continuing to splash him.  He shot up to sit up straight, sputtering out the water.

“What the hell?” He shouted.  It didn’t feel like an ocean wave.

“Great,” a high pitched voice said, “sleeping beauty is awake.”  Bobby opened his eyes and looked around him.  He was definitely not at the beach.  Whoever woke him up like that definitely was one.

Jeeyoung was standing next to Bobby with a sweet smile on her face while Nari was standing at the foot of his bed with an empty cup in her hand, also with a smile on her face.  This time, the smile on Nari’s face didn’t make him excited or happy.  Instead, it made him want to pour sand and water on her the next morning.  The two of them were dressed ready to go and patiently waiting for Bobby to process what was going on.

“Great,” he said, drying his face with his blanket and rubbing his eyes.  “Now I have to change the sheets because of you and quickly since we’re leaving.”

“I bet it isn’t the first time you’ve had to,” she retaliated.  He stopped moving and looked at her with wide eyes while Jeeyoung laughed.

“What?” He asked, not sure he heard clearly.

“I’m just saying that you probably changed your sheets a lot yourself.  Really fast.  You know, to prevent your mom from seeing it,” she said.  Jeeyoung just snickered and put her arm around Naeun.

“Come on, hon,” she said.  “Jiwon is still trying to wake up so we should leave him be.  Get ready to leave in an hour or else you’ll be home alone for 3 days without any food.”  Bobby nodded as the two of them left his room, closing the door behind them.

“What the hell?” He said to himself when the door clicked.  What Nari said didn’t sit too well with him, it made him a little uncomfortable.  Those were the type of jokes he made with the guys.  It’s not the type of thing he says to people he’s not close with yet, or at least by himself without his friends around.  Unless she wasn’t trying to make a joke and that’s just how it came out.  Maybe Jeeyoung was the dirty one.  He knew he was.

“Whatever,” he said, trying to ignore the thoughts in his mind.  Bobby finally got out of bed and stretched.  He was about to fix his bed when he remembered that it was wet and went on to change the sheets entirely.  Afterwards, he went into the bathroom to wash up and get all of his things ready for the trip.  When he went downstairs, he was met with the scene of a full table much like the previous night, just with different food.

“Good morning Jiwon,” his father greeted, “just grab a plate and get your food.  We have to get going soon so we couldn’t wait for you to start.”

“It’s ok,” Bobby replied as he went inside the kitchen.  Once he entered, he saw Nari making some sandwiches on the counter with Jeeyoung.  Their backs were towards him so they didn’t notice any presence.  They were also too busy to having their own quiet conversation to hear him moving around.  Bobby just shook his head, trying to make his dream go away, and went to the cupboard to grab a plate.

“Oh hey,” Nari said, “when you’re finished, help me do the rest of these.”  He just nodded and didn’t make any eye contact before leaving the kitchen.  He only heard some giggling behind him.

Probably still teasing me about this morning, he thought.  He sat down with a pout on his face and went to grab some bibimbap.  All the adults including Jiun were talking about the drive to the beach house, leaving Bobby to just think to himself.  Before he went downstairs, he saw a message from Hanbin that he sent while he was sleeping.

It said: Yo, have fun this weekend kimbap.  Whatever decision you end up making, I’m sure it’ll be the best.

After having that whole conversation and dream, Bobby didn’t know what to do anymore.  From what it seemed, he definitely was feeling something.  He wasn’t going to deny that anymore.  But, he didn’t know how strong this was.  If it was just a simple crush or something more.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter.  I’m leaving and she probably doesn’t even see me that way.  How can she? She doesn’t even know me and I don’t really know her.  It’s only been one summer.  A summer of working together, doing a couple errands, some dinners together, nice car rides, and this isn’t helping at all.  Bobby just continued to sit at the table, staring at the wall in front of him while his thoughts took over.

“Yah,” Bobby felt a crumpled napkin hit his face.  He looked up and saw Jiun with a confused face.  “What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Um,” he started.  He looked at Nari’s mom and his parents who were now looking over at him.  “I was just thinking about an email I got from my professor at school.”  Jiun and his parents’ faces changed, knowing what that meant.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Nari’s mom said, “I’ve never heard of a teacher checking up on their students during the summer.”

“Yeah.  He was just wondering how I was doing and how prepared I am to start the new semester,” Bobby said carefully.  He looked over at his mom who just had a sad face on.  She knew that the email meant that her son was leaving soon.

“We’ll talk more about this later,” his dad said.  “We got to get going unless we want to be stuck in traffic.” He rose from his chair and started getting the finished plates from the table.

“Jiwon, go with your brother to start putting the things in the car,” Bobby nodded at his father and quickly finished his food.  Bobby took his and the stack his father had to the kitchen where Nari was busy scrubbing plates by herself.  He just left it next to her without saying anything.

“Hey, are you not going to help me?” She asked.

“My dad told me to start putting the heavy stuff in the car with my brother.  I guess Jeeyoung is supposed to help you with the cleaning,” he shrugged and turned to continue walking, but Nari wasn’t finished.

“Psh,” she started.  Bobby could hear her taking the rubber gloves off and placing it on the sink.  “I can lift heavy stuff.  Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean the only thing I can do to help is clean.”  She walked up next to Bobby and dusted off the apron she had on before hanging it.

“I don’t think my dad meant it like that,” he said.

“No, I know,” she said with a smile, “But I want to help anyways.  Let the actual wedded couple do dishes together.  Let’s go.”  Bobby just sighed as he followed Nari into the living room.  The two of them started taking the finished luggage and packing it into the cars.  They didn’t talk at all while they were doing it, but Bobby was always silently watching to make sure Nari wouldn’t hurt herself.  He saw how hard she was working and was worried every time she dropped something inside, afraid gravity would work against her.  He knew she was strong, but heavy lifting was different from flipping someone in 2 seconds.  The only thing left was his luggage and a cooler with all the drinks, except he forgot his luggage inside the house.

“You can go ahead and get it,” she said.  “I can put this in by myself.”

“Are you sure?” He asked skeptically.  “It looks pretty heavy.”

“Are you doubting me?” Nari asked with a hand on her hip.  “If I said I can do it, then I can do it.”  Bobby just gave her an unsure look and started to walk away.  Nari just smiled and triumph and proceeded to attempt the cooler.

Instead of leaving, however, he just stayed by the door of his house, ready to help in case something went wrong.  Nari pulled the cooler by the handle so that it rolled on its wheels and left it at the back of the car.  Then to Bobby’s confusion, she left to go to the side of the house.  He started to go down the steps to put the cooler in himself, but Nari came out with ramp and put it on the trunk of the car.  She then pushed the cooler up the ramp with ease.

Bobby just smiled at her cleverness.  It was a hassle since she could have just waited for him, but he admired her persistence.  Nari went to take out the ramp, but one of the wheels got caught and the cooler was hanging out of the trunk.  Bobby rushed down to prevent it from falling entirely on her while she struggled to hold it up.

“You can do it hmm?” He said as he lifted and put the cooler in properly.  Nari looked down embarrassed.

“I had it,” she said quietly.

“Yup,” he said before pulling the trunk down to close the car.  “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” she said.  Nari wasn’t looking at him and Bobby just looked at her in confusion.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she said finally giving him a look.  “What about you?  Where is your luggage?  Didn’t you go get it?”

“Oh, uh,” he stuttered.  “I forgot what I went inside for and when I came back out out, I saw you struggling.  So I came to help.”  Bobby checked to see if Nari believed his lie and she didn’t seem to question it.

“That sounds like something you would do,” she said and turned to go into the house.  He let out a sigh of relief and followed her in.  Inside the house, it was chaotic as his parents were trying to get everything in place and make sure everything was in order before they left.  Nari went in the living room to sit down with her mom while they watched.  Bobby’s parents wouldn’t let her mom help with anything, so she just watched in amusement.  They were looking for the reservation papers for the house and Nari’s mom kept telling them where it was, but they never listened.

Bobby went up to his room and double checked to see if he had everything.  He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop.  The first thing he saw was his screensaver of iKON.  It was the first picture they took after losing the survival show against Winner.  It was about 2 hours after the show when they all gathered in the practice room and got back to work.

---

“What are we doing here, Hanbin?” Jinhwan asked.  The boys just came back from a congratulatory dinner for Winner.  They weren’t upset that Winner won, but more so that they didn’t win.  Winner was a group that they’ve been with forever and the program brought them closer.  They’ve all been training together for so long and the feeling of debut was all within their fingertips.  They knew only one group would debut in the end, but they made the most of the experience and all gave in 110% together.  It was just depressing that they lost the chance to live their dreams as well.

“We’re getting back to work,” Hanbin said.  “We lost for a reason.”

“Isn’t it too soon?” Yunhyeong asked.  “I mean, it just happened.”

“If we don’t get back to work now, then when do you think we’ll debut?  We have to prove to everyone that we’re ready for this.”  Bobby was on the floor against the mirror and silently watched.  He felt his energy being drained out of him by the second.  His family flew in to see him win, but that didn’t happen.

“But, once Winner debuts, we won’t debut for a good while,” Donghyuk said.

“I know,” Hanbin said, “but we still have to prove to everyone that this only made us stronger and that we can be with Winner.  I want to live my dream too.”

Bobby perked up at Hanbin’s last remark.  That’s what this was all about anyways.  Living and fighting for their dreams.  Even though they lost now, it doesn’t mean that their dreams are crushed or over.  It’s just delayed.  The more obstacles they go through makes it all worth it in the end.  He got up and stood next to Hanbin with his arm around him.

“Come on guys, we can’t let this set us back,” he said, “once we fall, it’ll be harder to get back up.”

“You guys are insane,” Junhoe said, getting up with them.  “We might as well document this because if you guys start doing something delirious, I want to laugh at it later.”  He went over to the room’s video camera and started recording.  Bobby smiled his famous gummy smile and went to turn on the music.  Their song “Just Another Boy” came up and the energy Bobby lost suddenly rushed back into him.  He went over to Hanbin and started dancing their choreography.  Donghyuk was next to join in and did his own little solo, causing Junhoe and Yunhyeong to start feeling the groove.  The only person left on the floor was their beloved Jinhwan hyung.

“Yah, hyung!” Bobby called.  “You can’t just sit there.”  Jinhwan just sighed and looked at all of them slowly.

“I feel like I failed you guys as the eldest for not helping you all debut,” he started, feeling the tears threatening to come out again.  The rest of the guys just looked at him in sadness.  Bobby was the one that went up to Jinhwan first, the guys slowly following him.  He put his arm around Jinhwan and hugged him.

“Come on, hyung, that’s not fair.  You can’t put that all on yourself,” he started.  “We didn’t debut because we weren’t ready.  That’s not your fault.  It’s just something we all have to work on.  The only way we can do that is together.  We need you right now in order to do that.”  The guys all responded to Bobby’s heartfelt words with teasing and excitement.

“Wow, KimBap, who knew you could be so sappy,” Hanbin said.  “Maybe you should be the leader instead.”

“Yeah right,” Donghyuk snickered, “He can’t be a leader to save his life.”

“Hey, what is that to supposed to mean?” Bobby asked with his eyes narrowed at the youngest one who dared to speak up.

“How can you be our leader, if you trademark is goofing around and giggling every time Hanbin hyung tries to be serious.  You can’t be really serious and lay down the law like he can.  You’re too much fun, hyung.”  Bobby smiled at the words.

“Aww, our maknae is so sweet,” Bobby let go of Jinhwan and went to jump on Donghyuk, to his dismay.  He groaned and yelled at Bobby to leave him alone, causing all the guys, including Jinhwan, to laugh at the moment.  They all joined in and came in for a group hug.

“This is it,” Hanbin said as they were all in a circle with their arms around each other, “let’s not  forget this.  We are all in this together and we will all achieve our dreams together.  The only way from here is forward and I will not let any of us fall down.  The only future I want for us is to be together, living our dreams.”  Everyone smiled and nodded at Hanbin’s words, spoken like a true leader.  They all chanted their team slogan and yelled in happiness, continuing to dance to the songs playing in the background.  The energy they had in that moment and all the emotions, expressed and unexpressed, were used to power them through for the rest of their trainee days.  They didn’t know exactly when, but they knew that the trainee life was going to come to an end soon.  Together.

---

Bobby just smiled as he looked at the picture.  He truly felt regret for his behavior before he left, forgetting everything that happened that night.  He would give anything to go back to that moment because that was when iKON was at their strongest.  The feeling of defeat powered and fueled them on to go on even stronger than they ever were.  He missed his boys, his teammates, his family.  The only way he could forgive himself and gain their forgiveness was by working hard and not letting any distractions get to him.  The only thing he should be focusing on was their debut.  He couldn’t let anything stop him from doing that.  He wasn’t only stopping his dreams from coming true, but he was delaying his dearest brothers from getting closer to their dreams too.

Bobby sighed as he knew what this realization meant.

“I can’t tell Nari,” Bobby said quietly to himself.  “That would mean putting myself first rather than you guys.  I can’t be selfish right now.  I need to be a friend.  I will do the right thing for you guys.”  If Bobby told Nari the truth and she still stuck around, he would be distracted by his feelings and not put in his full attention to their debut.  He even had to put his family on hold in order to do so.  Once he got involved with his home life again, that’s when things spiraled out of control.  He couldn’t afford another mistake.  Bobby couldn’t do that to them.

“Who are they?” Bobby jumped at the sudden voice speaking up behind him.  He turned around in his chair and saw Nari leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed in front of her.  Bobby just sighed, knowing his decision meant he had to stop his feelings for Nari get in the way of anything.  That meant, trying hard not to be nervous and excited that she was here in his room again.

“These guys?” He said, pointing at his computer.  She nodded and stood up to walk towards him.  Bobby turned his chair again and looked at the computer, sighing.  “My friends.”  Nari got up to Bobby and leaned against his desk, looking at the picture as well.

“Are they in Korea, right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, so they’re your friends from school?”

“Yeah.  We’re always together and all have the same goals in mind.  So we’re pretty close.”

“That’s nice,” she said with a smile.  Nari turned to look at Bobby and noticed how he looked at the picture longingly.  “Do you miss them?”

“A lot,” he replied.  He snapped out of his mini trance and looked up at her.  Bobby was trying to suppress his emotions, but it was proving to be difficult as it had only been five minutes after he decided not to let his crush on Nari get bigger.  She wasn’t wearing anything special or doing anything interesting, but her just looking down at him made his heart feel warm.  Nari being near him made him feel nice and secure.  It was a similar feeling to hanging around Hanbin.  He could say absolutely nothing and everything felt fine, but he also felt like he could tell Nari anything.  It simply amazed him how a few weeks with her made him feel a level of comfortableness that he only had with iKON.

“They’re like brothers to me,” he said, snapping out of his thoughts and shutting the computer.  He got up and carried it with him.

“That’s really nice,” Nari replied, standing up straight as well.  “Oh, but I came up here to tell you that we’re leaving soon.  Your parents found everything and are just triple checking for the sixth time.”  Bobby just smiled.

“Well, that’s my parents.  Come on, let’s go,” he guided Nari out with his hand on her back towards the door.  He didn’t realize what he was doing until he felt Nari jump a little.  Crap, he thought.  It was something he always unknowingly did and moved his hand back.

“Sorry,” Bobby said.

“It’s ok,” Nari said, her voice cracking a little, catching Bobby by surprise.  She didn’t look at him at all and just walked a little faster ahead of him.  He closed his door and followed her down the stairs to the front door where everyone was waiting for them.

“Ah, there you guys are,” Bobby’s dad said.  “All ready?”

“Yup,” the two of them said in unison.  Bobby noticed Jeeyoung smiling at him and Nari and he just rolled his eyes.  “Let’s go!” Bobby said in excitement and was the first one out the door.  He waited by his parents car and was leaning against it since it was locked.  One by one, everyone left through the front door.  When Nari came out, she didn’t look at him and walked right past him to wait by Jiun and Jeeyoung’s car.  Okay then, he thought.

When Jiun and Jeeyoung walked out, Jeeyoung noticed that Bobby and Nari were waiting at two separate cars.  Jiun pressed the button on his car key, unlocking it, allowing Nari to wait inside by herself.

“Oh, Jiwon, why don’t you sit with us and have all the adults in one car together?” Jeeyoung said.  She looked at the parents and everyone else.  Jiun sighed, knowing what Jeeyoung was trying to do and just got in the driver’s seat to start the car.  Bobby’s dad looked at Bobby, Nari, and her mom and nodded.

“That seems like a good idea,” he said.  “We can have all the adults in one car and the kids in the other.  It’ll be nice.”

“Great,” Jeeyoung said.  She went over to Bobby and pulled him to the car and even opened the door to the backseat for him.  “Come on, Jiwon.”

“Ok, noona, oh my god you don’t have to push me.  I’m going,” he laughed at Jeeyoung’s aggressiveness.  For such a small and skinny woman, she was strong.  He hopped in the backseat and closed the door himself.  Bobby looked next to him and saw Nari looking at him wide eyed.

“What are you doing here?” she said, nervously.

“Jeeyoung noona wanted me here, so I hopped in when everyone was cool with it,” he said.  “Is it ok with you?  I know your mom was supposed to be sitting here instead.”  Bobby noticed Nari stiffen a little at his words and she let out a breath before responding.

“Yeah, I guess,” she chuckled softly, “It’s not like me not being cool with it will change anything.  The parents will just assume something is wrong.”  She looked at Bobby who seemed to be waiting for her to say something else.  Nari didn’t know that he was just looking past her at her window, watching a spider move against the glass.  It’s so tiny, he thought.

“Just stay here,” Nari said softly.  Her words brought Bobby back to Earth.

“Huh?” he said, confused.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly, turning her head to look outside the window.  She rested her head against the glass and watched the window too.  Bobby just shrugged and looked outside his window as well.  He started to put his headphones on when he heard Nari squeal and felt her jump in her seat.  The whole thing happened with a blink of an eye and when Bobby turned his head to look over at Nari, he felt her entire body just frozen against his.  He looked down and saw her looking down at the car floor.  He gulped, not sure what to do.

“Um,” he started slowly, “are you ok?”  He moved a bit, making Nari snap out of whatever she was thinking and moved a little away from him.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“What?”  Bobby rested his headphones against his neck and moved his hand to touch her shoulder, to which she jumped again.

“Sorry,” Nari said when she noticed how close they were, but she didn’t move all the way to her side.  She gestured towards her window with her hand.  “I saw a spider and I freaked out.  I have a deep fear of them.”  She rubbed her own arm with her hand to calm herself down and noticed Bobby smiling.

“Hey,” she said, slapping him with annoyance, “don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you,” Bobby chuckled, “it’s just I never thought you of all people would be scared of an itsy bitsy spider.”  Nari’s face changed from a nervous frown to an angry scowl.

“You are making fun of me.”  Bobby just nodded, knowing it was working.  He knew if he managed to piss her off, then she would just automatically forget about the whole thing and just concentrate on yelling at him.  He looked behind her again and noticed the spider was moving away from the window and towards Jiun’s window, meaning it was going to come off eventually.  Jiun hated bugs and always went for the instant kill.

“Sure, if that’s what you want to think,” Bobby said with a smug look, “I didn’t say anything.”  Nari didn’t notice his real goal at all and just huffed in her seat with her arms crossed.

“You just made this the most annoying car ride I’ve been in and we didn’t even leave yet,” she put her hood on and closed her eyes after resting her head against the window with her earphones in.  Bobby realized they weren’t moving either and looked behind to see the parents were still talking to Jiun and he just continued to nod annoyingly.  Bobby just laughed, knowing his parents were trying to be extra careful and telling Jiun the directions for the fifteenth time.  The last time he remembered when they went on a family trip, they all got lost because they went up the wrong interstate.  Instead of going to Florida, they ended up in New York City.  Nobody noticed since they all fell asleep and Jiun was the one driving.  Bobby didn’t complain, however, because he got his chance to visit the famous city for the first time.

Finally, after a few minutes, Jiun and Jeeyoung entered the car.

“Damn, now I remember why I hate going on road trips with my parents,” Jiun sighed as he shook his head and set up the GPS.  “It was one mistake.  Plus they got to see the Statue of Liberty and it turned out to be a really fun weekend.”

“I know honey,” Jeeyoung said giggling.  “But, I kind of want to go to the beach this weekend and not in the concrete jungle.”  Jiun just looked at his wife and pouted to which she leaned over and pecked his lips, making him melt and smile.

“Better?” Jeeyoung laughed, putting her hair behind her ear.

“Very,” Jiun said excitedly.  He pressed ‘Go’ on the GPS and hugged Jeeyoung to steal another kiss from her.  “Let’s go!”  Jeeyoung just hit him playfully and the radio.  Bobby just grinned at his brother and sister-in-law, happy that they were happy.  It was their anniversary weekend anyway, they had to start with excited and happy feelings.  Bobby put his headphones on and decided to doze off for the car ride.  He looked over at Nari one more time and saw her fast asleep.  She had removed her shoes and bent her legs so that it was resting on the seat.  She was wearing animal socks, making Bobby giggle.

I’m doing the right thing just keeping it casual between us, he thought, I shouldn’t ruin anything.  With those final thoughts, Bobby fell asleep for the majority of the ride, dreaming about his debut with the boys for the millionth time.

---

“We’re here!” Jeeyoung yelled, making Bobby jump in his seat.  He took his headphones off and looked outside the window.  It looked exactly how it did in his dream and he sighed in relief.

At least that part of the dream was real, he thought, recalling the dream he had earlier that day.  That part was actually really nice.  Bobby attempted to stretch, but felt a strange weight against him.  He turned his head and saw Nari leaning against him, snuggled up on his chest.  She was breathing softly, obviously not aware they arrived and still sleeping.

“Aww, how cute,” Jeeyoung said, just before taking a picture of the two.  Bobby looked at Jeeyoung in panic and moved suddenly, causing Nari’s head to drop from the absence of his body.

“Ow,” she murmured.  Bobby didn’t want to wait for what else she had to say and jumped out of the car.

“How long was she sleeping on me like that?” he said to himself.  “When did we move away and towards each other?”  Bobby just shook his head and went to the back of the car to open the trunk and start putting things inside the house.  Jiun was already there, however, and was putting the bags on the floor behind him.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Jiun snickered, “did you enjoy your nap?”

“Shut up, hyung,” Bobby said.

“What?  It was just a question,” Jiun took out one more bag before turning to Bobby with a sneaky grin.  “You know, you guys were like that the whole ride.  Literally, 10 minutes on the road, Nari moved and you started leaning towards her side.  It was kind of cute.”

“You know, I preferred it when you were pissed at me the entire summer,” Bobby said through his teeth as he took more stuff out the trunk.  “I don’t want to hear this.”

“I know,” Jiun laughed.  “But, I just thought you should now.  That’s all.  My advice to you is just keep your eyes and mind open.”  Bobby dropped the last bag he was holding, which was his own and looked at his brother seriously.

“What do you mean hyung?  What are you trying to say?” Bobby knew what his brother was trying to hint at, but he needed it to come out of his mouth so he could be sure.  “If you’re indicating something, you of all people know I shouldn’t be doing anything.  I can’t even if I wanted to.

“Nothing, Bobby, I’m just saying that dad told me that you got an email and we know that means that you’re leaving soon.  So just don’t waste these last few days.  You deserve some stuff.”

“I thought you hated me this summer.  What’s with the change of attitude?”  Bobby eyed his brother curiously.  This was the first conversation the whole summer where his brother was just acting like, well, a brother.  It was weird and great at the same time.  Bobby was happy that it felt like old times, but he wasn’t exactly enjoying the conversation.

“We’ll talk eventually, but,” Jiun was cut off by Nari getting out of the car, yawning and stretching.  “I’m just saying have fun this weekend.”  He patted Bobby’s shoulder before getting some bags and going to move them inside the beach house.  Bobby just groaned and looked up at the sky.

“Please clear things up,” he said to no one in particular, “I need some clarity.”  He sighed and grabbed his bag before closing the trunk.  Bobby saw Nari still stretching and noticed how cute she looked.  Nari was wearing a big black hoodie with the hood on her head and shorts.  It made her look like she had long legs, but the hoodie made her look tiny.  As she raised her arms above her head, her hoodie rose up a little, revealing a little of her tummy, causing Bobby to gulp in nervousness.  Nari finally turned around and covered to yawn for one final time.

“Do you need any help?” she said getting closer.  Nari gave Bobby a small smile, making Bobby stumble a little.  Instead of replying to her, he just shook his head vigorously and picked up as many bags he could before rushing to go inside the house.  Bobby started tripping over his feet and he could hear Nari laughing behind him.

The only thing I know I’m doing this weekend is avoiding alone time with Nari, he thought.  I’m not telling her anything, but it might be easier for everyone if I just start cutting it off now.  For everyone’s sake.  The image of Jiun’s smile remained in his head.  Bobby just sighed in fear before dropping the bags right inside the house.  He tried to catch his breath, before jumping again at the feel of a tiny hand on his shoulder.

“Where should I put these?”  Nari said, carrying the rest of the bags he left outside.

“Um,” Bobby stuttered.  “Just, uh, drop them here.  I’ll, um, do it.”

“What’s wrong with you, Jiwon?” Nari said with a smirk.  She playfully shoved him and went to the kitchen to put the groceries she was holding inside.  Bobby picked up the groceries he brought in and followed her in, slowly.  He took the things out of the bags and onto the counter.  Nari was attempting to put some things in the high shelves and Bobby turned around to make sure she was ok.  She wasn’t using a stool or anything, just relying on her own strength.

The kitchen and living room had an open concept that connected together to make it look like one big room.  In the living room, there was a mirror that was facing towards the kitchen.  Bobby was silently watching Nari through it, to make sure she was ok and nothing would happen.  Nari decided the best course of action was to just put the bag on the counter while she kneeled on top of it in front of the cabinet she was using.  She looked safe, so Bobby stopped paying attention and went to get the rest of the bags in the front of the house.

He looked outside the window and saw that his parents and Nari’s mom finally made it to the beach house.  They went into the town quickly to buy some candles and wine because they forgot.  Something Jiun was now able to tease since he was continuously reminding them about those items.  Bobby grabbed the last bag and started walking towards the kitchen.  He checked inside and rummaged through it.

“Chips, chips, spam, chips,” he said to himself.  “This is Jiun hyung’s bag.”  Bobby chuckled to himself and closed the bag.  He looked up and saw that Nari was finished with what she was doing.  Bobby set down the bag on the counter and Nari was attempting to get back down on the ground.  However, the distance from the counter to the floor was farther than she anticipated so her knee slipped, making Nari yell in surprise.  Instead of expecting a hard fall to the floor, she opened one eye to see that she was upright.

“Um,” Bobby said quietly, “are you ok?” Nari opened her other eye and realized she was leaning on Bobby, his arms around her and her arms together on his chest.  She looked up to see Bobby shyly looking down at her, but still holding her tightly.  Nari slowly put a smile on her face and nodded.

“Yeah,” she said softly.  Bobby looked down at her round brown eyes, a small twinkle in them as they looked up at him.  He was worried to take a breath, unsure if doing so would ruin the moment.

Wait, there shouldn’t be a moment, he thought.

“I’m fine,” Nari said again, the smile still on her face.  Bobby heard the front door open and he let go of her suddenly.  He looked around sheepishly as the smile on Nari tried to fall, but she was having a hard time doing so.

“Um, I’m going to head up and claim the single room,” he said without looking at her.  Bobby rushed past his greeting parents to get his bags and went up the stairs.  They all looked at him curiously as he walked away.  Jiun and Jeeyoung just nudged each other, hoping what they thought would happen did happen as Nari came out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face.

“Hey everyone.”

---

Bobby closed the door to his room and laid against it as he took a deep breath.  He dropped his bags on his bed and sat down on the swivel chair near the desk.  His entire body was flailed on it as he twirled around slowly.  Bobby tried to make sense of what happened downstairs.  He knew what he was feeling, but the way Nari was responding to his actions and the entire event was very different than how they were in the beginning of the summer.  It was different from her simply feeling comfortable around him.  It was like…

“She liked it,” Bobby said aloud as he stood up from his chair.  “No no no.”  He continuously tried to deny it.  “I’m just hyping myself up.  That didn’t mean anything at all.”  Bobby started pacing in his room and decided he needed some fresh air.  He walked towards his window and pulled it up to let some air in.  He was leaning against the pane when he saw Nari downstairs checking out how far the beach was.  When she turned around, the wind blew against her, causing her long locks to flow slightly behind her.  She gathered all her hair and put it on one side, using her fingers to put it behind her ear.  Nari looked up and saw Bobby staring down at her and grinned.  She waved up at him, catching Bobby by surprise.  He stumbled and fell down to hide from the window’s opening.  His back was against the wall and his leg were bent so that his arms were resting on his knees.  Bobby groaned and massaged his face with his hands, the image of Nari stuck in his mind.

“This is going to be a long weekend.”

---

Hallooo...I don't have any author message because welp lol.  I just wanted to say...I hope those of you who are reading this caught that White Chicks reference I had and some of the puns I had.  My pride and joy lol.  Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to more coming soon :)