"Oh! Owned AGAIN!" bellowed Dongwoon.

"Shut up, Dongwoon. You just got lucky," I muttered. "Again."

"Face it, I am the best of the best," he bragged.

"Oh really? Must I remind you about our last Pokemon match, huh? If I remember correctly...my first Pokemon didn't even lose half of its health until your fourth Pokemon was sent out," I brought up.

"No fair," he whined. "That's Pokemon! This is Mario Kart! Plus, I bet you cheated."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Guys, guys, guys! It's just a game!" Doo Joon interjected.

"SHUT UP, DOO JOON!" both of us roared in unison.

"Yah, who do you think you both are talking to?! I should hit you..." he glared at us.

"Already have, oppa," I reminded him. "Plus, didn't you say it was WRONG to hit girls? Can't hit Dongwoonie either..."

"YAH, MIN AH, DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!" Dongwoon shouted, reaching for me.

I was ready to take him on, but Yoseob sat himself in between us and put his hands on both our shoulders. "Dongwoon, you are not killing my cousin. Min Ah, you are not starting a fight with my friend. Both of you, calm down! Aigoo..."

"He/she started it..." Dongwoon and I mumbled grudgingly.

"Well, it's late anyways," I said, glancing at my cellphone. "I should get going. You guys have a CUBE trainee showcase to perform at tomorrow. "

"Awww, fine, then. We'll see you soon! Very soon!" Yoseob piped from the couch as I got up to say goodbye to Hyunseung and Junhyung.

Upon entering the bedroom, I saw Junhyung sprawled out across the lower bunks listening to music. He looked up briefly to nod his head at me before returning to his iPod. Hyunseung was on the computer, replying to fan messages. He turned around and smiled at me then went back to work. I didn't want to bother them so I just waved at Junhyung and turned to leave, but he called out.

"Leaving so soon, Min Ah-yah? Stay for dinner! We only have you around for a couple months."

"I would, oppa, but I don't want to deprive you of food. You have a showcase tomorrow as well. Get some rest, okay?"

"You can't tell me what to do," Junhyung replied but smirked in his usual way. "We'll see you soon."

Then, I heard the faint noises of drums crashing and rapping. Junhyung had turned his iPod on max volume. I was backing out of the room when I heard my name being called again. Walking in, I saw Hyunseung promptly staring at me from the far corner. He looked at me with a pout on his face.

"Don't you dare leave without saying goodbye to me!" he protested. "Did you have fun today?"

"Sorry, oppa! I thought you were busy!" I apologized as I walked over to give him a hug. "And of course I had fun! Did you?"

"Of course I did because every day I spend with you is filled with fun," Hyunseung admitted with one of his adorable smiles while I blushed. "I'll see you soon, arasseo? Please don't injure yourself or anything while I'm gone."

"I won't! You guys act like I'm going off to the military or something. But it that I'm gonna be spending all that time bored and alone at the hotel. I mean, the last time you came to the hotel--" I stopped abruptly after I mentioned the word 'hotel' and nearly slapped myself for it. STUPID ME. I was thinking of the time last week when we watched Iron Man 2 but I just remembered what had happened this morning. The recollection of what happened earlier today struck the two of us as we looked away from each other, embarassed. Thankfully, Junhyung was still listening to his loud music.

"I'll be leaving now. Bye!" I said quickly as I rushed out of the bedroom.

Kikwang was nowhere to be seen in the dorm, so I guess he was in the bathroom. Shouting out a goodbye to manager Jiyong, I stepped out of the dormitory and into the stairwell. My foot didn't even touch the bottom step when my phone went off.

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."

"Yoboseyo? Ah, hello, Doo Joon oppa," I greeted him, confused.

"Min Ah-yah, you better come back quickly; you left your wallet here. Better hurry back and get it before Dongwoon steals all your money!"

"B-bwoh?! YAH, DONGWOON-AH, DON'T YOU DARE!" I screamed as I ran up the stairs like a crazy person.

Crap, I did NOT want that to happen. I bolded up the stairs to the dorm to retrieve my wallet. Thankfully, my money and identification was still intact. Saying goodbye a second time to everyone in the living room, I turned to leave when I heard the bathroom door unlock. Out came Kikwang in nothing but a white wifebeater and red boxer shorts, but what cracked me up was the towel wrapped around his head, turban-style.

"Wah! I thought Yoseob was dropping you off back at the hotel room! Aigoo, how embarassing..." he said, startled, then pulled the towel off his head.

"Interesting style, oppa," I said. "I think you should wear that during your comeback stage. Anyway, I really gotta go. Bye!"

"Wait for me~" Kikwang called out as I was halfway down the stairs. "I'll go walk with you to the bus stop!"

"Uhm, that's nice of you to offer oppa, but..." I giggled. "Shouldn't you change into some pants first? I'm sure the public eye would LOVE to see Lee Kikwang walking around in his underwear."

He looked down and then back at me, turning pink. "Oh...right...I should probably do that."

While he was changing into his pants, I decided to take a peek outside to see if that strange car was still there. Sure enough, it was. Wanna know what's even worse? There were girls standing outside the car. Not just any girls. Three girls. Three very familiar looking girls. Oh my gosh, what stalkers. They must have been waiting out there for a good two hours or so, seeing as it was already seven PM. I shut the door quickly as soon as I heard Kikwang's voice coming down the steps.

"OPPA!" I squealed, my voice cracking. "I-I think I can, uh, take it from here now. You don't have to come with me, I-I-I mean, you need to get up pretty early for your showcase tomorrow a-and--"

"Nonsense; I'm going with you. Remember what happened last time? I don't want a repeat of that happening," he brought up.

I could NOT let those fangirls see me with Kikwang. The last thing I wanted to do was start drama with their sasaeng fans. These girls were y and impossible to get along with. Plus, they might start harassing HIM. I didn't want him to go through that. They might spread rumors or even worse....they might even follow me back to my hotel to start bashing ME. For about the zillionth time, I asked myself why I couldn't have a normal vacation.

"But--"

"Min Ah-yah," His voice was firm. "I'm going. Kaja."

Taking a deep breath, I prayed that these girls would have enough sense not to do anything stupid. Then again, they WERE stupid, so all my praying would be useless. Babo Kikwang. If I told him that those fangirls were out there, he'd probably do something like confront them. Whatever the situation was, I did NOT want to talk to them. AT ALL. It looked like I had no choice though. I stepped outside, letting the night air hit me. Kikwang stepped out as well, straightening his wifebeater. The girls were probably plotting an assault right now, if not gaga-ing over Kikwang's arms. I didn't like him like that, but hey...this girl's gotta admit that his arms were NICE.

My stomach did a backflip as we walked away from the building, away from the girls. Thank goodness that he didn't see them, since the van was parked some meters away from the buildings. I pretended to look interested in the shops that scattered across the street, although I'd seen them so many times before. Kikwang cleared his throat.

"Hey, Min Ah..." Oh God. "Why did you want to walk alone, anyway? Was it because you didn't want me to go with you?"

"Bwoh? Aniyo, oppa, it's not like that! It's not like that at all," I explained. "I just didn't want you to go through all this trouble...for me. I mean--"

"It's nothing! You should know that by now, baboya. Nothing's too troublesome for me. Don't you forget it!"

"Alright, alright, I won't," I laughed.

I smiled at his euphoric comment. This boy was really something. He made me feel...well, I actually don't know what he made me feel. It wasn't attraction, not a romantic attraction, at least. I thought of him more as a good friend. A really good friend. We've known each other for barely a year, never mind that we couldn't keep in touch all that often, but ever since I met him, we instantly clicked. Although he and I didn't show our closeness the way Dongwoon and I displayed it, I still thought of him as a good friend. Okay, he MAY have a little crush on me (although, seriously, out of all the people?) but that'll go away soon, right? I didn't want to like him. If something did happen between us (and Yoseob and the rest of the world wouldn't try to kill him/me) and somewhere along the way we decide to break it off...it'd be too hard for the both of us and I didn't want to experience that loss, nor did I want him to go through the same pain. I liked us just the way we are: friends.

We crossed the street and neared the bus stop. Ah, yes, the bus stop. The magical bus stop of happiness, joy and...magic. Tch, awkwardness was a better way to put it. A silence washed over us once again as we sat down. There weren't any ahjummas there this time. No ahjummas, no dinosaur creepers...no nothing. It was just us. The two of us. Alone.

"I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable the last time we were here," he conceded.

The truth was, I did feel uncomfortable the last time I was here. I mean, hello! YOU FREAKING KISSED ME. I didn't want to tell him that though. That would make the atmosphere around us less...atmospherical and more like it was trying to suffocate us. I couldn't tell him the truth. If I did, I'd feel horrible. My brain was going haywire once again. This time, it was for a different reason. How to respond to his question without actually fabricating an answer? I racked my brains for a response.

"I did, didn't I?" he mumbled finally, gazing off into the distance.

"No, no, no, you didn't. I was just spacing," I blurted, regretting my lie instantly.

"You weren't mad or anything? I mean, I'm sorry for doing that without telling you or anything. It was just...impulsive, you know? Gah, I'm an idiot."

"It's fine. The past is the past, I guess. You can't change anything anymore. I mean, it was just a...a kiss, right? Who cares? If anyone should be looking like an idiot, it's me." What was I saying? I'm really gonna regret this later on, I can tell.

"You aren't," he said simply. "Don't lie to yourself."

I already was. Every second that passed felt like a weight being dropped on my soul. Why did I just say that? That kiss was probably a big deal to him. It was a pretty big deal for me, but I did not want anything to happen between us. It was for our own good, and the fans' too. Imagine their reaction. I didn't want a bunch of Skyscraper Heels clones to attack me. I think I would delude myself trying to fight them off.

Aw, , speaking of Skyskraper Heels, that white car passed by the bus stop. Why wouldn't they go away? I hoped that they would just stop following me once I boarded the damn bus. Didn't they realize that they were making things SO much harder for us? (Well, it was just me, really; Kikwang still didn't know we were being followed.) They should just go home and burn incense in front of their oppa shrine or whatever sasaengs do in their free time. Oh wait, they stalk people in their free time. Gaaaah, I felt myself getting stupider by the minute.

The bus finally came, blocking my view of the gas convenience store across the street. Kikwang and I stood up, ready to say our goodbyes. I was so thankful that the bus came that I think I was a little TOO happy when I went to say goodbye to Kikwang. What is wrong with me?

"Kumawo, oppa. Jeongmal kumawo," I thanked him. "You work hard at your showcase tomorrow, okay?"

Kikwang grinned his famous 'I'm-a-dork' grin. "Of course! Me and the boys have a few tricks up are sleeve."

"Get back safely," I told him, giving him a hug.

He still held on to me after I tried pulling away. I felt him lean closer. Oh no, was another scene like last time going to happen? But I swear I wasn't trying to lead him on today. I thought he was going to go for my mouth again, but thankfully, his cool lips landed on my forehead. He finally let me go and I smiled at him briefly before boarding the bus. On the ride home, I put my head in my hands. Never in my life had I thought that Kikwang would cause me to lose brain cells. OVER HIM. He likes me. He freaking likes me. That's just great. That's just WONDERFUL. Note the sarcasm. He didn't admit it, but even a blind moron could tell that he liked me. I guess I was a blind moron yesterday, because I'm pretty sure people don't just kiss each other randomly. The bus ride seemed to zoom by quickly as my mind slowly turned to mush.

Stepping off the bus, I headed straight for the hotel lobby to greet my uncle in his office. After that, I'd probably watch something cool like Baker King, Kim Tak Goo or something. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the lobby to find one of my worst fears confirmed. Yep, I was right. Those sasaeng fans were back and they looked like they were out for some blood. Not just any blood. My blood.

---

SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN SUCH A LONG TIME. I was really busy with the schoolwork that my teachers so heartlessly piled up, but it's the weekend and I tried updating ASAP. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and hope I didn't bore you to tears with the mushy stuff. Next chapter...stuff's going DOWN. Not like that, you s. >__< You'll see. You/Min Ah are going to have quite a scene. Please continue to comment because THEY INSPIRE ME TO WRITE. YOU GUYS WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS, YES? XD Sorry if I seem needy; I just like reading your feedback because it helps me know that you're still reading. Well, until next time, annyeong(: mystery signing off.