“I never thought brown could be this pretty,” I comment, looking out the car window as we drive through the dark desert on the way to location.

“Now you see why I love it out here,” Julian replies, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “It’s a different kind of beautiful out here.”

I nod, watching the way the bare traces of sunlight are slowly turning the blues turning to purples. “Oppa, you should look at this. It’s magnificent.”

Yoochun lifts his head from my shoulder a little, barely opening his eyes before snuggling back into my side. “Sleep is magnificent. I’ll see it in a bit.”

“All right,” I smile, smoothing his hair and resting my head on his. “Julian, where’re we going again?”

Tyler answers for him. “It’s an old ghost town, abandoned during the Great Depression. It’s right near the hills so it’s going to look amazing at dawn.”

“Oh, right. You told us that last night, didn’t you?”

Julian just laughs. “I did, but you fell asleep pretty soon after that so I’m not surprised you didn’t remember.”

“You all should’ve woken me up.”

“But you looked so cute sleeping.”

I lean forward carefully, not wanting to disturb Yoochun, to punch him in the shoulder. “You creeper. Watching me sleep.”

Julian swats my hand. “No distracting the driver.”

“_____, quit moving,” Yoochun complains, yawning.

“Mianhae,” I giggle, leaning back. “You know I’m a morning person. Why didn’t you ride with the others?”

He yawns again, giving up trying to sleep and sitting up. “This car was closer. The only seat left was that tiny one in the middle anyway. Plus, you make a better pillow than Jaejoong. He’s boney. You’re soft.

“Great. It sounds like I’m a marshmallow.”

“But a very pretty marshmallow,” Yoochun smiles, poking my cheek.

I laugh, pushing his finger away. “If I’m a marshmallow, doesn’t that mean I’ll become a gooey mush in too much heat? Maybe I should stay in the car all day in the nice AC.”

“You won’t have to worry about the heat,” Tyler tells me, leaning around the seat to look at me. “We have a few more hours before it gets bad and by then it’ll be too hot for the equipment and the team.”

Julian nods in agreement. “After sunrise, we’ll only stay another two hours or so to get full sunlight shots before heading back to the studio.”

Nodding, I look around curiously as we turn off the highway.“When’re we going to the Grand Canyon? Everyone’s really excited about it.”

“Tomorrow is the night shoot at the sign graveyard so the Canyon’s the day after. I can’t wait to show you that too. I’ve seen it a million times but it still takes my breath away every time.”

“Sweet.”

The short silence that falls as the road becomes less traveled is broken by Julian again. “_____, do you still like to dance?”

“Yes, but I haven’t had the time to for awhile,” I reply, slightly surprised he remembered.

“Well, do you want to go out tonight? I know this club nearby that always has good music and it’s pretty clean too.”

I perk up. “That’d be so much fun! Yoochun, do you think Choi-ssi will let you all go? Hang on, will Danny and Changmin be able to get in since they’re underage?”

Julian’s answer is a little delayed. “Alcohol’s only allowed on the second floor, so they should be fine. What about you, Ty?Are we going to have to drag you out?”

“I’ll come,” Tyler says, glancing back at me and Yoochun. “You’ll just have to be prepared to be incredibly embarrassed by my awesome dance skills.”

“Remind me to stay with DBSK and far away from you then,” I laugh. “Danny can deal with your spastic chicken dancing.”

“Spastic chicken?” Yoochun repeats, raising an eyebrow while trying not to laugh.

“Yeah. It’s like this.” Instead of trying to explain with words, I start wiggling and jumping in my seat and flailing my arms.

“Hey, don’t diss my signature move,” Tyler scolds, laughing in spite of himself. “The chicken dance always gets the chicks.”

I stop dancing long enough to groan with the other two at my brother’s horrible attempt at a joke.

“I kinda want to see this in action now,” Yoochun chuckles, still shaking his head. “I think if we ask hyung after we get to location, he’ll give us the okay.”

“Great,” I smile. “We’ll still have to watch how late we’re out though. We don’t have to leave for tomorrow’s studio shoot until midday, but the filming crew will probably have you up early anyway.”

“Don’t remind me,” he says with a small groan, dropping his face into his hands.

I frown in sympathy, using a hand to lightly massage his head to comfort him.

“Does it bother you, always having cameras following you around?” Julian asks curiously. “I’ve always been behind them rather than in front of them.”

“You get use to it,” Yoochun shrugs, looking up a little. “Our manager did get SM to give us more free time than usual, but I didn’t think they’d do anything more than a few self-cam things.”

“Well, hopefully you get tonight off from them too,” I say, smiling. “It’ll be a boys plus _____ night out.”

“Sounds good to me,” he grins.

Changmin whistles appreciatively when he opens the door to let me in their room. “Looking good, noona.”

“As do you,” I smile, reaching up to smooth the slightly open collar of his shirt. “I’m going have to watch you so all the girls in the club don’t smother you.”

“You think I can’t handle myself?”

“Don’t worry, ______,” Yunho jokes, playfully ruffling Changmin’s hair. “We know Junsu won’t be doing too much so he can babysit the two youngest.”

“Yejin doesn’t mind if I have fun. Minnie can take care of himself and Danny,” Junsu retorts, sticking his still wet head out of the bathroom. “Besides, I have Yoochun to dance with.”

“Who says I’m want to dance with you?” Yoochun laughs from the couch. Patting the space beside him, he puts an arm around my shoulder when I sit down.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” Jaejoong compliments, sitting opposite us and winking at me.

“Thanks, oppa,” I blush. “Will you all be all right tonight? You’re not too tired?”

“Are you kidding? It feels weird going this long without dancing,” Yunho replies, stretching his arms. “Tonight’s going to be great.”

“And don’t worry about staying with us the whole night,” Changmin says, sitting on the couch arm beside me. “We’ll be fine and if we get separated, we can find you easily.”

“How’s that?” I ask.

“You’re kidding, right?” he chuckles. Jerking a finger at Yoochun, he explains, “Yoochun hyung has ____ radar, remember?”

We all laugh, but Daniel’s call interrupts and sends us scurrying to get downstairs.

“Ladies first,” Julian smiles, giving a little bow and waving me into the club after briefly speaking to the bouncer.

I smile and slip my hands around my brothers’ arms. “Let’s go, my chicken men.”

“I don’t dance like him,” Daniel complains with a roll of his eyes as we head down a dark corridor, the faint tremors of bass already present. “I just shuffle.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just behave yourselves.”

“I have a girlfriend, remember?”

“Which is why you dance with your sister,” I laugh, looking over my shoulder to make sure the others are close behind.

“Gross.” Danny sticks out his tongue and turns around, pleading, “Please tell me someone will rescue me.”

Jaejoong laughs and tosses an arm around Yunho’s neck. “Forget about getting help from this one. Once he gets into the music, there’s nothing else. “

    We stop just inside the archway into the club’s main room. The orange walls glow like fire in the semidarkness, scattered with sparks of light from the strobe light on the high ceiling. Dance music pounds, mixing with hot air from the dozens of bodies covering the large dance floor.

“Follow me,” Julian says,coming beside me and taking my hand to shoulder his way through the crowd.

I grab blindly behind me for someone’s hand, smiling when I see it’s Yoochun’s.

    Julian finds a decent spot a little away from the DJ, with the others quickly trickling in behind us to fill in the empty space. With a smile, Julian spins me into the center and raises his eyebrows expectantly. Giggling, I close my eyes and begin moving. When I open my eyes to find all eight guys watching me, I get embarrassed and finish off my dance, pulling Junsu in and taking his place on the outside of the ring.

    Slowly, everyone takes their turn in the middle, even Tyler. During his turn, Julian pulls me in with him, holding both my hands as we clumsily mimic each other’s movements. I laugh and let go after awhile, content to dance by myself in the protective ring of my brothers and friends. Time becomes an alien concept as one song flows into another until there’s no knowing where they began.

“Hey, Julian, can you show me where I can go to cool off?” Danny asks finally, shouting to be heard as he flicks damp hair from his forehead and fans himself.

“Sure. We’ll be right back,” Julian tells us, heading off with Danny close behind.

A few seconds later, Yunho asks, “Anyone else want to come with me to find water? Looks like you could use some too, Ty.”

“Does sound good,” Tyler replies loudly, casting a slightly worried glance at me.

“I’ll stay with her,” Changmin offers, reading his face and moving closer to me.

“All right.” Tyler follows Yunho.

As I slow down, I become aware of my own need. Gesturing with my hands, I tell the remaining three, “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

    They nod, looking around and seeming to be unsure of what to do now. I smile at my silly boys and push my way out of the crowd to find the restroom. After getting my business taken care of, I try to find my way back to our original spot. Unfortunately, it’s moments like this where my height becomes a definite disadvantage as I can’t see any of them.

Someone taps me on my shoulder, making me turn around.

A college student by the looks of him, the boy smiles at me. Leaning in close to be heard above the music, he asks, “You wanna dance?”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I answer, smiling and shaking my head.

I move away, but he follows me. “Just one dance,” he pleads.

I shake my head again, but am stopped from answering completely by an arm circling my back.

“Sorry I was gone so long, babe,” Yoochun says, pulling me close to kiss me on the cheek, dangerously close to my lips. my face and keeping my body flush against his, he adds, “There were a ton of people at the bar, but I’m back now.”

I stare back, still surprised and unable to move my hands from where they’d flown up to his chest.

Yoochun glances disdainfully at the boy who was following me. “Can I help you?”

He shakes his head and disappears into the crowd again.

“You okay?” Yoochun asks, looking back at me with concerned eyes.

I nod. “Thanks.”

When I try to move back, his arm tightens around me.

I give him a questioning look.

“What? You don’t want to dance with me?” he asks in a half teasing tone, shifting so both of his hands span my lower back and we’re face to face. “Doesn’t every girl want a dance with a prince?”

“I usually don’t dance with someone,” I mumble, looking at the floor but not trying to pull away any more.

“Just follow me,” Yoochun replies, lifting my chin and smiling.

My hands find their way around his neck, my fingers clinging to each other so they don’t bury themselves in his hair like they want to.

    Yoochun keeps his eyes on mine as his hands slowly slide from my back to my waist and we begin moving to the music. Our every movement is a perfect mirror of the other, our bodies fitting together as if made for this one night. Gradually, my heart slows down to almost normal and I lean my head against his chest, closing my eyes. The bass and his heartbeat intertwine into a pulse that echoes through me. The faint smell of sweat is masked by the sharp, clean smell of Yoochun’s soap. I feel his head rest on top of mine and his arms hold me closer as our movements slow. I could honestly die happy at this moment.

====================

Annyeong lovelies! It feels like I haven't written in forever! Are you all happy now that Chunnie's getting some competition? ^^ I'm not sure how you'll take what happens next, but you'll have to wait for next week to find out. It's almost 3 am here, but I can't sleep because I'm so excited about seeing Hangeng today! If I get to meet him, I can only hope I'm able to not make a complete fool of myself when I speak Chinese. If I don't, at least I get to see him and listen to his story. Don't worry, I'll post an account and maybe some pics (if they're allowed) on sunday. Aren't you all so glad the lawsuit is all over? It's been long and hard, but hopefully things will get easier for JYJ. I also hope this is the first step in our DBSK boys reconciling. Always Keep the Faith. Anyway, I hope everything's going good in your lives. Saranghae! <3

ljolson: You know, I totally forgot about Julian Kang when I named the character but when you pointed that out I was like 0o0. The character isn't based of Julian Kang, but now I keep seeing his face while I'm writing.

rasetu_girl: Finally.

hazel_marie13: Mianhae for making you wait so long. =/

yellow14: I miss Spanish class. Thank you! ^^

WhiteAutumn_x: I have to agree with you. I'm a favorite author? AWS! *hug* Champions27: I believe so.

Mionyu: I know, I know. It just never felt right. I thought about a staff member fall for her/you, but then Julian turned up. Yeah, my brother really is a sweetheart.

the3wishes_t3w: Thanks! ^^ I looked up Beck after I read your comment and he's almost exactly how I pictured Julian, except Julian has green eyes and a slighter thinner face! Love you too!

EhaaKevin: Ke ke. I love Wangja too. Thank you!

ankeaenkeli: Yes indeed.

Poison: Human teddybears...I wish I had more of them to cuddle with. I shall satisfy your curiousity in this and the next chapter, my dear. ^^

parksanghwa: ke ke, it's okay. He had it coming, I think.

ChinkyKayla: I don't think Yoochun can help it. I think being affectionate is just part of who he is. Oh my goodness, and I thought my family was bad. Let's just say Tyler's semi-reserving judgement, but who knows for how long.

MewNikkiChan: It's ok. I know you've been going through a lot. Saranghae! <3