Being saved by someone signals the automatic beginning of a close friendship. It happened to me when I was sixteen. I was on my way to visit my brother Kiseop. It was my first time being able to see him since he had been accepted into the idol group, U-Kiss. I had been so sad the day he had to move out, but I had to keep up the pretence that I was happy for him.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to be at the dorm before nine o’clock, because his schedule finished late. Also, seeing as umma was working late, she couldn’t drive me to the dorm, so I had to catch a bus to the city centre and walk to the dorm from there. Once I had gotten off the bus and started walking through town, I was aware of someone following me. I tried to stay in crowded well-lit areas, but as I turned into the street the dorm was on, I was grabbed from behind and slammed against a brick wall. I quickly managed to scream out, before my attacker clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Scream again and you’re dead,” he warned. I just nodded as he moved his hand to grip my arm tightly. I started to panic when his other hand moved down my thigh and then squeezed the area between my legs harshly. A pained cry escaped my throat, but it was soon turned into one of surprise.

The weight that was pressing me against the wall suddenly disappeared. My attacker was on the ground and a small boy was tugging my arm, trying to lead me away. Under the dim street light, I could see his puppy-like facial features were vaguely familiar. I began crying from the sheer relief that I wasn’t going to be .

The small boy, who was actually about a foot taller than me, picked me up in his arms, so I clung to his neck, wrapped my legs around his waist and buried my face in his shoulder. He carried me halfway down the street before walking into a large building. We were soon swamped by a group of people, but one voice, which was calling my name, shocked me slightly.

“Kiseop-oppa?” My voice was muffled against the boy’s shoulder.

“Baby girl, what happened to you?”

“Some guy assaulted her down the street,” the boy answered for me. “He was gonna her.”

“Thank you so much for saving her Dongho! Sweetheart, are you okay? Are you hurt? Did he touch you? You’re shaking like crazy!” Kiseop pulled me away from Dongho and took me into his bedroom. There were two beds in the room, both covered in a dark crimson duvet. The walls were painted a soft, pale blue and the floor was a light, beech wood. Kiseop placed me in his bed, which was beside a desk littered with pictures of us both. The window above my head was letting in a cool breeze, so Kiseop wrapped the duvet around me tightly. He laid down beside me, holding me protectively.

“St-stay with me oppa. I’m scared.”

“I’ll be here baby girl. I’m here as long as you need me.” He gently sung me to sleep after that.

~동호~

As soon as I opened my eyes, I sat bolt upright, hyperventilating and sweat running down my face. Tears were pouring out of my eyes, thick and fast like rain. Kiseop’s arms found my waist in an instant and he cradled me gently, trying to reassure me.

“It’s okay baby, you’re safe. Oppa won’t let anything happen to you again.” He continued to whisper soft words to me, until one of his band members entered the room. I recognised the chestnut-haired Soohyun staring at me, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

“Kiseop-ah, are you two alright?”

“Yeah, I think so hyung. Is breakfast almost ready?”

“Hmm,” he hummed in response. “Everyone’s round the table waiting. You take as long as you need though.”

Once Kiseop was sure Soohyun was out of earshot, he asked me the same questions he had asked the previous day. “Are you sure you’re okay? Did he hurt you or touch you at all? You didn’t answer me yesterday.”

“I think I’m okay, oppa. I don’t think I’m hurt…”

“Did he touch you?” Kiseop pressed on, anger flaring in his eyes.

“Y-Yes…But I’m okay! I promise!”

Kiseop suddenly turned into his ultra protective mode and hugged me tightly, showing no signs of ever letting go. “I’m sorry. Where was umma? She said she would bring you here! Did she drop you off at the end of the street and go?”

Kiseop’s ever increasing tone and volume of voice scared me slightly, so I was dreading his reaction to my answer. “Oppa… Umma was busy; I got the bus into town and walked from there.”

Kiseop clenched his fist as his eyes became red. He held his breath, causing his cheeks to puff out like a chipmunk and his nostrils to flare. He slowly scooted off the bed, unclenched one of his fists and picked up his phone. I knew he was going to call umma and shout at her, so I ran out the room, not bothering to put slippers on and ended up slipping over in front of everyone when I entered the dining room. I landed with an almighty thud, just as I heard the first of many curses leave Kiseop’s mouth. Dongho offered me a hand, which I gladly accepted to pull myself up with.

“I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself properly yesterday. My name’s Dongho; I’m the maknae of U-Kiss.”

“An-annyeonghaseyo, Dongho-ssi,” I answered back and took a place at the table between him and a baby-faced, blonde-haired boy.

“I’m Kevin! Oh and please call us your oppas! Except maybe Dongho…”

The other members introduced themselves and I quickly grew to learn their personalities. Kevin was constantly giggling, trying to be funny and cute at the same time…it oddly worked. Eli was trying to hit on me, but I just shot him down in flames. Kibum was quiet, but had this mischievous look in his eyes. Soohyun was kind, talkative and rather sweet. Xander was bubblier than Kevin, which made him annoying. He resembled a monkey and behaved like one. Dongho didn’t talk very much. I caught him looking at me a few times, but other than that, he was more interested in his empty plate of food and clean cutlery.

“You,” Kiseop pointed his finger at me as he closed the door to his room. “Are never going anywhere on your own again! And you can stay here with us until umma gets back from her business trip.”

“Oppa~” I whined. “That’s a whole month! I can’t stay that long!”

“Wae?” Kiseop cried dramatically. “Don’t you want to see your big brother? Don’t you love me enough? I’m so disappointed in you!”

“Oppa, you know that’s not what I meant… I’d be imposing. You said the weekend and that was all… I can’t stay a whole month.”

“You can and will,” Kibum spoke quietly; one of the first words I’d heard him say. “I don’t mind chaining you up so you can’t escape.” His smirk sent chills down my spine.

“Hyung!” Dongho cried. “You can’t say that to a girl!”

“Since when do you care maknae? Oh, I get it! You like Kiseop’s sister, don’t you?”

“Yah hyung! I’ve only just met her! Think with that brain of yours that you keep saying exists.” I listened to them arguing, feeling a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks. Kiseop stood behind me, and without warning lifted me off the chair, so he could sit on it with me in his lap.

“Oppa! What was that for?”

He shrugged lightly and replied with a simple “felt like it,” before picking up one of the sausages that Soohyun had placed on my plate. I glared at him, but he pretend not to notice and smiled his cheesy grin.

“Kiseop, you should respect your sister!” Soohyun scolded, causing my brother to finally bow his head in shame.

~동호~

After an eventful breakfast, that started with the other members asking questions about me and somehow ended with a food fight between Kevin and Eli, Kiseop ushered us all into the living room, where I snuggled tightly in his arms. Dongho sat next to us, gazing at the black TV screen intently.

“Hyung, can we watch a movie?”

Kiseop seemed to deliberate for a moment before nodding his head and asking me what to watch. “Got any horror movies?”

Donghae’s eyes lit up. “Of course! Bunshinsaba… A Tale of Two Sisters… Whispering Corridors…”

“Got any real horror? Like zombies or something?”

“Well, sure…Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, or there’s Battle Royale and Three Extremes.”

“That one! I’ve always wanted to watch Three Extremes.” Kiseop was turning paler by the minute, so I held onto him even tighter. “Don’t worry oppa, you don’t have to watch.”

“Why did you have to pick that film? I can’t get through the first section without spewing my guts.”

“In that case, don’t sit with me.”

“Okay,” I hastily replied and sat in the middle of the floor. Dongho put the film on and grabbed two cushions sitting next to me. He handed me one of the bright crimson cushions.

“You, err, might want to sit on this,” he offered, blushing a light shade of pink. I stuttered a thank you and turned my attention to the TV. Soohyun and Kibum were the only ones who chose to stay, but Kibum left halfway through, clearly too bored with the film. Once the film was finished, Soohyun was already flicking through the DVDs, deciding what to watch next.

“I don’t care what you say, this one’s pretty good.” He waved the box for Death Bell in front of my eyes as he stuck the disk in the machine.

I managed to sit through the first half, finding it vaguely interesting, but I soon noticed my eyes starting to hurt. I rubbed them a few times, but eventually gave up and rested my head on Dongho’s shoulder gently. He didn’t appear to notice, or he was just too kind to say anything about it. The TV soon became fuzzy background noise before finally becoming completely silent.

~동호~

“Dongsaeng!” Kiseop shook me, trying to wake me up. I suddenly found myself lying on the dark leather sofa, instead of sitting on the floor. My brother smiled at me softly, as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “It’s dinner time, you hungry?” I nodded, my answer being backed up by a low growl from my stomach. “Come on; let’s get some food in that small belly of yours!”

“It’s not as small as yours oppa… You need to put weight on.”

Kiseop smiled at me sweetly, the sort of smile that made his millions of fans faint. “Well, thank you, but I’m not going to try to put on more weight.”

“I can’t believe you took that as a compliment,” I mumbled. Kiseop dragged me back over to the dining room table, and this time, I had my own chair, next to Dongho. He smiled at me, his smile reaching his puppy eyes… That’s when I realised what he was wearing… A giant puppy baby-grow type thing. It had ears and a tail…

“Dongho, you look so cute!” I squealed. He blushed again, mumbling his appreciation.

“Wow Dongho,” Kibum teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Girls never make you blush… You really must like Kiseop’s sister.”

“BWOH?” Kiseop shrieked, mouth full of food. “Yah, that’s my sister!”

“No , Sherlock…” Soohyun face-palmed.

“What the hell, Dongho? You fancy my sister?” Kiseop sounded as though he could hardly comprehend it. I dreaded the day I introduced my first boyfriend to him.

“I never said that. Kibum-hyung did, and he’s just being stupid.”

Kiseop calmed down considerably and finally let us finish our dinners in silence. After dinner, I took a quick shower and crawled into Kiseop’s bed, lying next to him comfortably.

~동호~

The following month was spent rushing around with the boys, accompanying them to some of their schedules, watching their performances from front row seats and trying to make sure food was on the table for when they came home each night. My free time was shared out amongst the other members, but I felt that Dongho and I shared similar interests.

“Umm, can I talk to you?” Dongho caught my attention with his timid question. He and I were the only ones home and I was trying to catch up on some rest. I felt like I had been run off my feet, but then when considering how hard the others worked, what I was doing was nothing.

“Sure, what’s up Donggie?”

“Well, there’s something I need to say to you…but I don’t know how to phrase it.” I looked at him with a puzzled expression, tilting my head to the side slightly. His eyes were very focused, whilst he was fidgeting with his fingers and shifting from side to side.

“Why the serious face Donggie?”

“The thing is… I really like you. I think we…connect well. So, will you be…my…friend?”

I was speechless for a minute. Was that really all it was? That was what made him so nervous? “Err, sure Dongho, aren’t we already friends?”

“I guess, but I want you to be my closest, special chingu.” His cheeks lit up as he finished speaking and his head dropped, his hair effectively hiding his embarrassed expression.

“Aww, Donggie, you’re so adorable! Of course I’ll be your chingu.” To be honest, I thought we already were best friends, but the adoring look on his face when I accepted his request was definitely worth the wait. It just goes to show that true friends don’t just appear out of nowhere. It takes time and care, which is why Dongho is the closest person to me… Other than that idiot of a brother.