~Samantha Krede~

A few days later you wake up to text messages and emails from friends and family wishing you a happy birthday. The day had gone on as usual: attending schedules. You were sent off to your practice with GDragon as Cassie, Mel, and Hanna went to their own schedules. You feel a little bummed that everyone seems busy on your birthday, but they all gave you birthday wishes. As a special present, Eclipse and Jared even let you sleep in late, which meant you were late to your choreography practice at YG, but GDragon had been informed of that. You called your mother as soon as you woke up since the times are opposite; she even stayed up late to talk with you. You said hi to your brother, sister, soon to be brother in law, friends, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even with your father...just briefly. 

On the way to practice with GDragon, you found it hard to focus. Your mind whirled around about JunHyung ever since that night. You and JunHyung had kissed...something you actually hadn't thought about before. The idea of dating hadn't occurred to you at all...not since Keagan. Now you were forced to deal with this decision of whether or not to enter a relationship with JunHyung. You like him...you like him a lot. But you're not sure you're ready to date yet. Jared had been right when he said there were too many barriers with dating right now. Why do relationships have to require so much time and effort? Why are they so hard? Why can't they just be easy? 
Since that night, you and JunHyung seem to talk even more and it seems like something has changed between you. It seems as if you two have already entered a relationship without telling each other; and you're not sure how you feel about that. Luckily, he seems to be giving you time; but part of you wishes that he would just come out and talk about it with you, because you're not going to bring it up first. He kissed you first, he can talk about it first. Right?

On your way into YG you notice that your throat feels a little funny. It feels sort of scratchy and swollen... a little sore. And you feel a slight pressure behind your eyes but that could be due to lack of sleep. You take a deep breath, of course you would start to get sick on your birthday. 

You walk into the practice room at YG Entertainment to find YG himself walking out. He wears dark glasses and a classy suit. He smiles just slightly as he walks past. 
"Samantha," he nods his head to you and greets you in a monotone.
"Hello, sir." you bow slightly as he shrugs past. 
As soon as he's gone you shake your head and start to prepare for practice.
"What was that?" you hear GDragon laugh and look up to see him walking your way as he stretches out his arms.
He's wearing just sweats and a tshirt, his hair messy rather than styled. You smile as you sit down to stretch out your legs.
"I don't think YG likes me very much." you say.
"Why do you say that?"
"Just the way he acts. So serious all the time. I feel like he's judging me everytime i see him. I dont know, i just feel like hes waiting for me to mess up or something."
"Hm, i don't think so." GD smiles warmly.
"Then what is it? Honestly."
"Honestly? Hmmm," he his head to the side and purses his lips as he thinks. "Honestly i think he's just not used to having us work with someone outside of YG Entertainment. Eclipse is so new, and though you girls are popular, you're still considered rookies."
"Ah i see. So having someone as established and GDragon from BigBang working with me probably doesn't seem like the best use of your time to him is it?"
"Bluntly, yes," GDragon laughs and shakes his head, "I dont care though. I like this arrangement. I like our albums, our songs. I like you."
You nod along. "Yeah i guess you're right."

You and GDragon get to practice on more of the choreography for the upcoming debut stage. You put your all into practice and the whole JunHyung and dating situation seems to dissappear. At the end, you sit down to stretch out one last time and GDragon dissappears. You shake your head and continue to stretch before you have to leave. 
Suddenly, the practice room door swings open and you hear a crowd of people all singing "Happy Birthday" to you. You whip around and laugh in embarassment as 2ne1 and BigBang all come in clapping and singing as GDragon carries a small decorated cake with the number 21 on it and a candle. You stand and blush as they all gather around.
At the end of their song you lean over the cake and blow out the candle which results in the room cheering some more.
"Congratulations, Samantha!" CL smiles as she gives you a hug.
"You guys how did you all know? I didn't think anyone knew!" you laugh as you go around the room thanking everyone. 
"Ji Yong hyung told us about it!" Seungri smiles as he puts his arm around you. 
"Yes, our precious JiYong planned it all!" TOP slaps GDragon on the back and the boy suddenly becomes shy.
"JiYong-ah!" you coo as you walk to him with your arms out for a hug.
He laughs and puts his hands up to protect himself. "No no," he says, "No PDA!" he shrieks as you wrap your arms around his waist playfully. You hook his arms under yours so he's trapped in your hug. The others laugh and clap but you can hear them turning to their own conversations and jokes. You take the chance. You quickly hop up to your tippy toes and plant a firm but quick kiss right on GDragon's cheek. His skin is smooth and warm on your lips; a faint noise escapes from them as you pull your lips quickly away and smile. You feel your own face become warm and flush. GDragon's eyes are open wide as he looks down at you. His smile is gone but his eyes are full of wonder as he stares at you. A smile plays on his lips as you playfully wink and turn back to the small party. 

The small party doesn't last long until you get a call from Cassie that the van is outside the YG building. 
"Awe you have to leave already?" GD frowns as you gather your stuff up.
"Yeah," you smile to yourself as you get everything ready. "It seems like the rest of Eclipse and Beast and 4minute and all of them have schedules tonight, so Cassie's taking me out to dinner just me and her."
Everyone congratuates you one last time as you head for the exit.
"I'll walk you down," GDragon offers as he follows you out. "So, i still have a present to give you." he blushes as he speaks.
"Another present?" you playfully look up at him in awe, "I thought this party was the present! And wait you already bought me a dress! Really this is all too much!" you shake your head. 
"Hm, i still have a gift. A surprise really. But i'll give it to you later."
"Later? Why later?" you ask as you pout your lips.
"Yah," he playfully nudges you with his arm, "You didn't even want me give you a gift and now you can't even wait for it?"
"Ani ani ani," you laugh and shake your head, "I can wait."
You hop down the steps towads the van. Towards the middle of the stairs, you stop and quckly turn around. You feel so happy now and less worried or stressed. Practice always makes you feel better, but GDragon really helped as well. His smile is so sweet and caring, and his eyes so clear and focused only on you. You smile up to him. 
"Can i just have you for my birthday?" you jokingly ask.
He smiles and blushes as his hand goes up to hide his mouth. "You can have me anyday." he puts his hand down and looks you in the eyes as he says the words.
You're taken back by such a serious response to a joke. Then he comes down a step to you and leans forward. His eyes watch you and a smile hides on his lips as he nears. Your eyes widen and your body becomes stiff as you stare ahead, not knowing what to do or say. JiYong brings his lips carefully to your cheek. Where they touch, your skin feels warm and your heart beats faster, as if it's sending more blood up to where GDragon touches you. His lips linger on your skin for a moment before slightly pulling away; but you can still feel them brush your skin as he reaches over to your ear.
"Happy Birthday." he whispers to you as his warm breath sends chills down your spine.
He quickly pulls back and smiles as he looks at your astonished expression. You realize your mouth is hanging open, so you quickly shut it and go down another step, almost tripping. 
"Um, uh, thanks again, JiYong-ah..." you manage to get out before quickly turning and going to the van. 
You're unsure, but you think you can hear him snicker as you hurry into the car.

You sit in your seat and pull your bag off your back. You turn to see Cassie sitting next to you with her hard eyes focused on you and a smirk on her lips.
"What was that?" she asks with a smile.
"Uh... GDragon got BigBang and 2ne1 together for a mini party for me." you avoid her real question.
"Okay, and as a party favor, he gave you goosebumps?" she reaches over and takes a hold of your arm. You look down to see goosebumps lining your flesh. You look lower and see them along your legs as well. 
"Oh well that..." 
"Mhm."
"Ha what?" you laugh.
"Nothing we'll talk more tonight. We're going back to the apartment for you to wash up and change and then we'll go out to eat." Cassie smiles.
"Okay," you nod. 
You suddenly feel excited to get some alone time with Cassie. And now you'll have someone you can talk to about Gdragon and JunHyung. JunHyung! Your eyes widen as you just realize that you had just had strong feelings for GDragon...but JunHyung was the one that had kissed you...well really kissed you. You rub your arms, trying to make your goosebumps go away. What just happened? 

You shower quickly and put on skinny jean capris and a dressy black top. Cassie wears skinny jeans and high heels with a sparkly red dressy top. The company van takes you girls to a fancy restaurant for dinner and you sit down to enjoy alone time with your best friend. 
"So how are you and John?" you ask as you sip your wine. 
"We're good," she nods.
You stare at her as she smiles warmly at you. Her eyes are gentle and caring. She's so relaxed, but so confident in her answer. "How do you do it?" you ask with shake of your head.
"Do what?" she laughs.
"A long distant relationship. Different sides of the planet, different time zones, different friends, different jobs. How do you two stay together so well?"
"Well," she leans forward as she circles the top of her wine glass with her finger, "Relationships require trust, honesty, and of course love. You need all three. I believe that if you really want something or really want something to work out, then it can happen, you just have to work for it. For example, if you really really wanted to buy...a porshe...you could work until you have the money. It's your choice to work for it and get it. So, John and i love each other and we want to be together; so we both work for it. We're honest with each other and talk about difficulties and all with the differences. And we trust each other not to hurt the other. It's risky yes, but it's worth it."
You smile at her words. She's so smart, and John's so nice. They're really the perfect couple.
"But," she smiles as she continues, "If you're asking in smaller ways, then we keep in touch everyday. It's like one big long conversation that never breaks. I send him messges and he replies when he can, and then i reply when i can. It's as if nothing's changed. And we call eachother once a week, we make sure that we actually keep up with that."
"Hm, i see." you nod as you lean back and sip more wine. 
"Why are you asking about this?" you hear Cassie ask, but don't look up from your glass. "Could it be because of JunHyung...or GDragon?"
"I guess." you shrug.
"Which one?"
"Both."
She's quiet and you look up to her. Her eyes are still gentle but they bear right into you. She smiles as she tries to help you out. "Well what are you thinking about them?"
You sigh as you sit back. "Well, i'm not exactly sure. My head is just swarming with different thoughts. And my heart...its full of different emotions. I admit that i really like both of them, but it seems like i like them in different ways. They're both so similar and yet so different. JunHyung...hes so easy going and i feel so comfortable with him. He's attractive and i love his soothing voice. Hes nice and funny. But hes calm and mature. Then there's GDragon. Hes loud and funny, popular, and just really really good looking, honestly. I just...don't know. I think i like both..."
"What do they think of you?"
"I think JunHyung likes me. But we haven't talked about it seriously. And GDragon...i'm not sure. I can't tell if he likes me or not. He knows so many girls...."
"Right," Cassie nods as she thinks through it all, "Well don't play with them Sam. Even if you don't mean to, you could be sending out signals."
"I'm really not meaning to. I'm just being myself," you shrug.
"I understand. But you still have to be careful. You can be open and honest and be yourself but you still have to think about how you affect others. I just mean thata basically, you can't date two." she smiles and you laugh back just at the idea of it, "I know it seems silly and obvious but you can't."
Suddenly it hits you. Why can't you date two? Why can't you just try out both of them and decide? Is that wrong? "But how will i know which one i like then?" you ask.
Cassie smirks, "You should figure that out before you start any sort of relationship with anyone."
You nod, not liking the answer. 
"Theres no rush of course," Cassie smiles. 
You smile back, "Yeah i don't think i'm exactly ready for a real relationship still." you shrug, "I dont know when i'll be ready. I don't want to date anyone...i just want to be left alone so i can think for myself."
"Understandable."
You look to Cassie and laugh. You're so grateful for her and her wisdom. The rest of the dinner goes well and you two talk more about relationships but also about family and schedules and all. At the end, you're not really feeling tired even though the time is nearing ten. 

The van pulls over a little bit away from the Cube building. You perk up and look around. 
"Oh, why have we stopped?" you ask Cassie.
She smiles and opens her door to get out. 
"Oh, where are you going?" you shout as you slide over to follow her.
"Let's just go for a walk." she fixes up her shirt and waits for you to get out.
"A walk where?" you ask as you join her outside. 
"The air is fresh and it's nice out! You like walking and you like the night. So let's go!" Cassie starts off down the street and you hurry to catch up.
She's right, it is a beautiful night and you do love just walking around. 

Eventually, you two end up ouside of Cube's own Bar.
"Let's go in here." Cassie says as she reaches for the door.
"I don't want to go to the bar!" you whine.
"You're officially of legal drinking age, and you don't want to go to a bar?" Cassie laughs.
You laugh as well but still don't want to go. "We always go to the Cube bar. There's nothing fun about it. We go all the time, why don't we try a different one and have some real fun?" you smirk as you challenge her adventure side. 
She looks to the bar and then back to you. "Let's just go here first." she insists, "We can always try others later. How about that? We'll bar hop for your twenty first birthday."
You stare at her for a moment and then give in. You shrug as you walk to her side and she hooks her arm into yours as she excitedly leads you into the bar. You roll your eyes at her enthusiasm but decide to humor her.

Inside, the bar is unusually dark. You can make out the twinkling star lights on the top of the roof and the neon blue light bars that go around the top of the rooms. Other neon sign of drinks and pictures are lighted around the walls, but below, you can't see anything but darkness and it's unusually quiet.  Two guards recognize you both as you near the glass doors, and so they lean over and open the large doors for you to enter.
Cassie pulls her arm away from you as she hurries inside and you walk slowly in, trying to get your eyes to adjust to the strange darkness. Suddenly all the lights turn on and blind you. You bring your hand up to your eyes as you blink away the pain. At the same time, the whole room becomes loud with shouts as people jump up from the floor, under tables, and even behind the bar. A surprise party!
"Oh my god!" you shout as you cover your mouth with shock.
The whole room joins together to sing Happy Birthday in Korean to you. Cassie runs to your side again and grabs your arm to pull your hands away from your face. Mel and Hanna are there too, joining your side and singing along with the others. You smile and laugh as you look around and glance at all the faces. 
Everyone is here! Beast! 4minute! 2ne1! Even BigBang is here! MBLAQ, UKISS, Super Junior, IU, FTIsland, CNblue, Lee Minho, Kim bum, and others youve worked with or met. Even KARA, Secret, Girls Generation, and TARA have come; and you're not even well equanted with them all. Everyone's managers are here; Jared comes out of the crowd clapping and singing. YG himself has come as well. He leans against the bar with others as he stares at you with a frozen smile and hidden eyes from his dark glasses that he still has on. This is over the top.
The singing dies down and turns into a roar of clapping and congratulating as people begin to swarm you. Luckily the Eclipse girls keep everyone off a bit so you can calm down and think.
"Oh my gosh," you say embarassed as you bring your hands to feel your warm cheeks, "I can't believe this."
"Did we surprise you?" Hanna asks as she bounces up and down.
"Yes, yes you did! I thought everyone had schedules!" you exclaim and the room laughs along. "This is honestly the best surprise ever. I've never really had a big birthday party like this." you smile shyly as you look around the crowded room. "Who planned all of this?" you laugh as you look from Jared to your Eclipse girls. 
They all smile and hold onto each others arms in excitement. "It was Cassie's idea!" Mel beams, "But i decorated and helped with the guest list. These two wouldn't let me help with food though." she points both her thumbs to Cassie and Hanna.
"Of course not!" Hanna laughs as she puts Mel's thumb down, "You would get all natural organic healthy crap. We got junk food!" 
You laugh as you pull all three girls into a group hug. "This is exactly what i needed." you close your eyes in happiness. Finally you have a moment to enjoy everyone's company and not worry about work, and family or even about boys. You straighten up out of the hug and look around the room. You smile and clap your hands together to address everyone. "Well, everyone it seems like i'm the hostess." they laugh along with you, "Thank you all for coming so much! It really means a lot. I've been pretty stressed out lately and i didn't think that my birhday was very important, but this is just wonderful. So i want to come around and thank each of you personally, so i'm going to mingle and try to see everyone, okay?" 
Everyone shouts and you smile as you make your way down into the bar to see everyone, starting wtih Jared, who has moved over to talk with YG and the manager of Beast. 

~Yong Jun Hyung~

JunHyung thinks Sam looks beautiful in such a classy outfit. She was just twenty two yesterday, but now she suddenly looks older as she smiles and greets everyone. JunHyung knows he has feelings for Sam; he always has. The only thing that's keeping him from really making her his is the fact that there is someone new hanging around her. That Gdragon guy; someone JunHyung is acquanced with but not exactly friends with. Something about the guy...JunHyung doesn't like him. And unfortunately, it seems as if Sam and GD have developed a sort of friendship. JunHyung had seen the articles from other about how they suspect GDragon and Sam to be in a relationship; even though JunHyung's name was once in the very same sort of articles, now he worried that her sights had perhaps changed to GDragon. That's the reason why JunHyung had tried so hard recently for her attention, yet she still checked her phone for messages from JiYong, and she works alongside him almost everyday and even went out with all of BigBang. As long as GDragon's around, JunHyung doesn't feel confident that Sam actually has any feelings for him at all. There was a time at interviews when Sam best described her ideal type as Yong JunHyung from Beast...but if she were to answer that question now, JunHyung wasn't sure what her answer would be. 

JunHyung glances around the bar to catch sight of Goo Hara chatting with Seungri. Now there was another. She's cute and sweet and funny and very popular. Hara seems like a classy girl as well. JunHyung and Hara have developed a friendship through mutual friends but he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about her; he just knew that she's pretty and that she really did show interest in him. However, she seems to show interest in any guy. JunHyung smiles as he looks at her playfully grab onto BigBang Seungri's arm and laugh. She really is cute and sweet and he liked talking with her. 

Sam turns on her heels and looks JunHyung's way. He had already seen her once that night with the rest of Beast but then the group split up to disperse around to other friends. JunHyung had just been talking with HongKi and Seungho but the two went off in search of others. JunHyung had sat at the bar alone for a while as he stared off into space lost in his own thoughts, but now it seems like Sam is headed his way. He sits up and smiles as she comes near. She smiles and looks down to her feet shyly. JunHyung suddenly remembers his other gift for her birthday; he turns back to the bar and starts to search his pants pockets for the gift he stowed away for her. He smiles to himself as his fingers touch the case in his back pocket.
"Yah," he hears Sam's voice right over his shoulder, "JiYong-ah!" 
JunHyung's eyes widen as he glances over his shoulder to see Gdragon leaning against the bar right next to him. Dressed in a nice black, silky button down shirt with a blue tie and rolled up sleeves, JiYong looks spiffy compared to JunHyung in just a blue tshirt and jeans. Sam places a hand on JunHyung's shoulder and gives it a slight squeeze to say hello, but she addresses JiYong.
"Hello." Gdragon says in english as he smiles.
"Oh, well hello!" Sam answers in English.
Feeling irritated by GDragon's sudden appearance, JunHyung turns to join their group. Sam looks to JunHyung, keeping her hand on his shoulder. She looks into his eyes and smiles, giving him more confidence. He smiles back and pulls out his gift for her. He slides her hand on his shoulder and reaches over to grab onto her other hand as well. He pulls her over to stand right in front of him so that GDragon only gets her side profile. JiYong looks on with a curious expression. 
"I have my gift for you." JunHyung says as he shyly places a CD in Sam's hand. 
"Omo," Sam's eyes widen as she looks down at the decorated case. There's fancy designs written on by hand in sharpie. "I didn't think you would get me another gift!" she exclaims as she looks at the cover. 
"Well of course!" JunHyung smiles, "The last present couldn't really be a gift since it was yours already."
"Oh a gift! What did you get for our Samantha?" GDragon butts into the conversation as he leans in and looks at the CD in her hand. 
"Well," JunHyung mumbles without looking up to GDragon, "I got her necklace back for her," he reaches forward and lightly holds the locked heart locket hanging around her neck.
"Oh yeah i noticed that she was wearing that older one again," JiYong comments as he looks at it, "She had mentioned losing it earlier so we bought her a replacement for our album."
"Mhm," JunHyung mumbles again, and then he reaches down and taps the CD case with his finger and smiles, "I know you don't like it when people buy stuff for you, so i made this for you specially."
"Really?" Sam's eyes brighten as she looks down at it in wonder. "What is it?"
"You'll have to listen to it and see for yourself." JunHyung smiles and she smiles back as they look into eachother's eyes. 
"I was sort of hoping you'd wear that dress that i bought for you. The one from the awards ceremony." JiYong says as he looks up to Sam.
She turns so that she can see both boys and she shifts weight on her feet as she brings the CD case down to her side so that JunHyung is no longer holding onto her hands. "Mmmm well i didn't know you were going to be here or i would have worn it for you," she laughs and he smiles at her, "but no i do really like it!"
"The dress from the awards?" JunHyung reenters the conversation. 
"Yep!" Sam turns her attention back to him. "That was JiYong-ah's gift." she nods and looks around the bar, trying to avoid the awkwardness.
"Beautiful." JiYong smiles in english.
Sam chuckles and looks back at him."Why thank you." she replies in english. 
"Hmmm, are you enjoying your birthday so far?" GDragon asks again in english; JunHyung can hear the words but can't understand them. 
"Yes i am!" she continues it in english, "It was such a surprise i didn't expect it."
GDragon laughs and glances at JunHyung to see him looking around uneasily. "Oh im sorry, do you not understand english?" GD asks JunHyung.
JunHyung doesn't realize that GDragon has addressed him and just continues to look around.
Sam laughs a little. "No no i don't think JunHyung really knows much english."
JunHyung turns around at the sound of his name, but he can't understand what either are saying. 
"Oh JunHyung doesn't know?" GD asks.
"I don't think much." Sam smiles as she looks to JunHyung and pats his knee, "Right?" she asks in Korean, "You know some english, but not too much."
"Right," JunHyung nods blankly.
"Maybe we can teach you!" Gdragon says in english as he places a hand on JunHyung's shoulder. JunHyung looks over to the hand and up to Gdragon's smile. "Try using English."
"Uhhh," JunHyung looks around uncomfortably, "I don't want to," he laughs uneasily, "I really don't know any. It'll sound funny."
"Just try!" Gdragon gives JunHyung's shoudler a slight shake. 
"No, i don't think i can." JunHyung forces out a laugh and looks down, uncomfortable. 
"He won't even try," Gdragon shakes his head as he smiles at Sam.
Sam shrugs her shoulders and smiles back. "It doesn't matter," she says. 
"Yeah it doesn't matter." Gdragon smirks as he says the words in clear english. 
The hand on JunHyung's shoudler starts to feel heavier and heavier. He has no idea what Sam and GDragon are talking about and he feels uncomfortable as well as irritated. He looks down at his hands as he tries to avoid their english conversation. He looks around the room for Beast, Seugnho or Hongki in order to escape. He sees Hara walking around by herself now. Maybe he can use to escape from here. She looks over and sees him. She gives stops and smiles to him and gives a slight wave. JunHyung's head pops up and he hops down off the bar stool.
"Oh, where are you going?" Sam asks in Korean.
"Are you leaving already?" Gdragon asks with a faked, interested expression. "I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable with the english. I thought that since you and Sam are such good friends that you would know some english, that's all." Gdragon pats JunHyung's shoulder as he says the whole phrase in english so that JunHyung can't understand anything.
JunHyung stops and turns to GD. He looks GD coldly in the eyes. Gdragon's eyes...are tricky as a slight smirk plays on his lips. "You're right," JunHyung says quietly in Korean, "I don't know much english. But there is a phrase that i know pretty well." JunHyung pulls Gdragon's hand off his shoudler. " you!" he says clearly in english before shrugging away from Sam and Gdragon and making his way over to Goo Hara. 
"JunHyung-ah!" Sam gasps, "JunHyung wait! Come back!" he can hear her call to him as he storms away. "What happened?" she asks GDragon. 

Hara stands still as JunHyung walks up. He takes her hand in his and leads her away from the others and out the bar. 

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