Swiftly and quietly, I slipped out of the water, heading towards Kwangmin and Hyesoo with hopes of talking with them.  Once again, I was intercepted.  Jeongmin stepped in front of me and I ran into him.

“Oof!  Ah, mianhaeyo!” I apologized, bowing my head.

“It’s alright, that was probably my fault anyway, I wasn’t paying attention.  Have you seen Hyunseong, Minwoo, or Youngmin?  I can’t find them anywhere!”

“ I don’t know where Hyungseong is, but Minwoo-ah and Youngmin-oppa are somewhere over there,” I pointed towards the pool.  He glanced over and saw Chung Ae draped over Youngmin, practically drooling over him.

Jeongmin sighed, “I guess I might as well go save him.”

“What do you mean ‘save him?’  He doesn’t seem to mind,” I pointed out.  And it really did seem that way.  He was smiling and wasn’t doing anything to pull off his new pet leach.

“Just watch,” Jeongmin winked at me and then went to the edge of the pool.  “Yah!  Jo Youngmin!  No Minwoo!  Get your butts over here!”

All three of them looked up at Jeongmin.  I couldn’t hear what Youngmin was saying, but it looked like he was apologizing and started swimming away with Minwoo.  They lifted themselves out of the water.  I looked away, embarrassed.  Youngmin still had his white T-shirt on and it stuck to his skin, outlining his muscles.  I made my way over to Kwangmin and Hyesoo and sat next to them.  They greeted me but continued their conversation with a few other people.  I stayed silent. 

After a short time, someone sat next to me, letting out a deep sigh.  I looked over as Youngmin made himself comfortable on the ground.  Minwoo took his other side and then Jeongmin. 

“I thought she was going to claw my arm off.”  Youngmin threw his head back.

“I told you to watch,” Jeongmin smiled at me.

I rolled my eyes.

Youngmin looked at me curiously.  “Is someone jealous?” he teased.

I scoffed.  “Yeah, Minwoo-ah is.  There weren’t girls latched onto him.”

“Believe me, I’d take being single over that torture any day,” Minwoo promised.  He turned his attention to Kwangmin’s conversation.  “What are we talking about?”

I shrugged.  “I have no idea.  I just got here.”

“Well, if it’s nothing important, let’s go somewhere else.”  Youngmin got up again.

“Don’t you want to be with your brother?” I asked.

“We live together; I am with him nearly 24/7.”  He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.  “Come on!  This is a party.  Let’s have fun!”

The other two followed us.  I had no idea where we were going, but the only thing that I really was aware of was Youngmin’s hand holding mine.  I tried to pull away, but Youngmin kept his hold.

“This crowd is too big.  I already lost you once, I don’t want to have to come looking for you again,” he insisted. 

Thinking of me being lost in this sea of people was enough to get me to step closer to him, squeezing his hand tighter.

What is my problem?  Since when did I get so touchy-feely?  I’ve always been reserved and rarely had any skinship with anyone outside of my immediate family.  Why was I letting Youngmin hold my hand?

We walked around the pool and I realized how big it really was.  The shallowest part was 4 ft and the deepest part, the section the four of us were headed, was 14 ft.  A high dive rose above the water with a smaller one next to it.  A few people were jumping off, showing off flips.  I gulped.  I hoped Youngmin didn’t expect me to go off of that.  One other thing that I hated other than crowds was heights. 

I breathed a sigh of relief when he changed direction and headed to the refreshment table.  Goodies of every kind adorned the surface: chocolate covered strawberries, cookies, pastries smothered in icing, brownies, bowls of candy, sweet rolls, and...  Cupcakes!  My face lit up and soon I was the one pulling Youngmin along.  When I was finally in reach, I snatched a cupcake from its plate and took a large bite.  Chewing contentedly, I died and went to heaven.  The treat was perfectly moist, the light blue icing sweet and delicious.  Perfect.

I heard a few chuckles and saw Youngmin and Jeongmin laughing.  I blushed but then realized that they weren’t just laughing at me.  Minwoo had also grabbed a cupcake and was munching on it happily.  He looked so funny, as if one cupcake could make anyone’s day.  But I’ll bet that’s how I looked too.  I laughed with the others.  Minwoo looked at us, confused.  He had icing all over his mouth and on his cheeks.  We laughed harder.

“M-Minwoo-ah,” I chuckled.  “Your face.”  I grabbed a napkin and handed it to him.

“Oh,” his ears colored slightly and he took the napkin, wiping away the icing.  He looked at me and smiled.  “Here, you have something on your nose.”

I had taken another bite of my cupcake and apparently some of the frosting had rubbed off on my nose.  Blushing, I went to take the napkin from him, but he held it away.

“Let me,” he said.

“No, I can do it,” I insisted, still trying to grab the napkin.

“Come on,” he whined.

“Oh geez, you two,” Youngmin muttered.  “Here,” he swiped his thumb across the tip of my nose.  I stared at him with a shocked expression, my mouth forming a small ‘O.’ 

“What did you do that for?” I cried.

“You two were arguing very loudly,” he said his thumb.  “Did you want to cause a scene?”

I thought about that and recognized how childish Minwoo and I were behaving.  “No.”

“That’s what I thought,” he smirked and snatched the half-eaten dessert from my hand.

“Yah!” I exclaimed as he took a bite.  “That’s mine!”

“Not anymore,” he said, chewing.

I hmph-ed, glaring at him as he enjoyed my cupcake.  An idea entered my mind and I smiled evilly.  As he went to take another bite, I shoved the pastry in his face, smearing it everywhere.  Minwoo and Jeongmin stared wide-eyed before busting up laughing.  Youngmin’s eyes were as round as an owl’s.  I flicked my hand, ridding myself of the sticky chunks that stuck to it.  Then I grabbed the napkin from Minwoo and finished wiping off the icing.  I looked back at Youngmin and he seemed frozen in place.  Laughing inwardly, I reached out with the napkin to wipe away the mess I had created.  But before I could, his hand caught my wrist. 

“You did not just do that,” his icy voice froze the teasing smile on my face. 

“Uhh…” my heart stopped in my chest.  What was he going to do?

“Oh, now you’re gonna get it.”

He picked me up by the waist and I gasped in surprise.  As I kicked and pounded and squirmed, he carried me to the pool where the diving boards were.  I couldn’t even scream.  If I did, I would attract too much attention, something I definitely didn’t want right then.

“Youngmin, put me down,” I ordered. 

“Nope, you deserve it this time.”  I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I looked over at Minwoo and Jeongmin who were rooted in their spot, laughing and waving at us.  Meanies.

“Youngmin, please please please,” I begged, still wriggling.

“I’m going to enjoy this.  Revenge is sweet.”

“Youngmin-oppa~” I attempted aegyo, but couldn’t pull it off in this awkward position. 

“No you don’t.  That won’t work on me this time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Too late for that, baby.”

We were nearing the edge and I knew I didn’t have much time.  My mind raced, but I came up with nothing.  Only one thing remained and I prepared myself for what was to come.  Youngmin reached the edge and I started my last act of desperation.  I folded my arms around his neck and clung to him with an iron grip. 

“Yah!  Jin, what are you doing?” Youngmin yelled in surprise.

“If I’m going down, you’re going down with me,” I whispered in his ear. 

Youngmin tried to pry me from his body, but I refused to let go.  He was not going to throw me in the pool.  Finally, he stopped.

“Fine, have it your way,” he sighed.

I thought he was going to let me go, but he hugged me tighter.  Before I could question him, he spun us and we fell sideways into the water.  Once under the surface, I managed to break free from his grip and swam to the surface.  With sloppy , I made it to the side and pulled myself up, sitting on the edge, letting my legs dangle in the water.  Youngmin wasn’t too far behind.  He swam over to me, holding the edge to support himself in the deep water.

“I can’t believe you did that,” I said, stunned.

He grinned, most of the cake had washed off in the water, but a few soggy clumps stuck to his hair and skin.

“You forced me to do it.”

I scoffed.  “Did not!  And you should probably dunk yourself again; you still have cake on you.”  I grinned at that last part. 

He rubbed at his face messily, in which he only succeeded in spreading it.  I laughed at his pitiful attempt.

“Just go back under,” I said, pushing his head down.

He tossed his head away and grabbed my calves.  “Come in, it’s a pool party.  You’re supposed to get in the water.”

My heart beat faster and I glanced over my shoulder to look for Minwoo and Jeongmin.  Where were those two?  I found them talking to a lot of other people.  Unsurprisingly, the majority of the group was girls.  I sighed; they weren’t going to save me.  Youngmin pulled at my legs and I gave a little shriek.

“Don’t do that!” I scolded

“What?  This?” He tugged at my legs again.

Futilely, I dug my fingers into the cement to keep myself from being dragged in.

“Youngmin-ah, I mean it,” I warned.

I don’t know if my face betrayed something or if he could hear a little panic in my voice, but he stopped and looked into my eyes.  I bit my lip, refusing to let any more emotions show on my face. 

“What’s wrong?” Youngmin asked.

“You’re about to pull me into the water when I don’t want to be!” I tried my best to sound indignant, but even I could hear that it was just the surface argument.

“Can you swim?”

I rolled my eyes.  “Of course I can.”

“Then why don’t you want to get in the water?”

I gulped and looked down at the dark blue of the pool.  “Maybe I can’t swim that well,” I muttered.

“Well, then I’ll teach you,” he said simply, beginning to pull me in again.

Panicking, I gripped his forearms.  I forgot to mention when I said I was afraid of heights, I was also afraid of the other extreme –deep water.

“I can’t do it here, not with all these people,” I protested.  Not ever.

Youngmin frowned slightly.  “But when will you learn?”

I shrugged.  “It’s almost winter anyway and it will be too cold to swim.  There’s no point to it now.”

He sighed.  “You’re impossible.”  But he climbed out of the pool and sat next to me, splashing water on his hair to wash out the remnants of cupcake.

I looked away from him, feeling guilty.  “I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know.  I guess because I can’t swim well, you can’t go swimming.”  Then I realized how stupid that sounded.  “Wait, you can still go swimming.  I’ll just go talk to Minwoo-ah.”

Smiling happily, I stood up to leave and go find Minwoo, but Youngmin grabbed my wrist.  I looked down at him, wondering what he was doing.

“You don’t have to go to Minwoo.  And I don’t have to swim.  Besides, it’s not that big of a deal whether I get in the pool or not.”  He said that, but I knew that he really did want to swim.

“Youngmin-ah, really it’s fine-”

“Oppa.  Youngmin-oppa,” he corrected.

“Youngmin-oppa,” I mimicked, “You go have fun swimming.  I’ll join Minwoo-ah and maybe help Jeongmin-ssi find Hyunseong-ssi, I know he was looking for him earlier.”

Youngmin stood up so that now I had to look up to see his face.  “I brought you here.  I have to make sure you’re okay and having fun.”

“Thanks umma,” I teased, “but I’m not five.  I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”

He stayed silent for a moment and I wondered what was going on in his head.  “What if-” he began, but then stopped himself.  I wondered what he had been about to say.  Then he sighed.  “Let’s go find Minwoo.”

“Youngmin-oppa-”

“Come on,” he pulled on my hand again and I followed him, looking around for Minwoo.

After a long time of fruitless searching, Youngmin collapsed on one of the pool chairs, the nice kind that you can lie down on and adjust the angle of the back.  Sometime in our search, Youngmin had stripped his wet T-shirt, exposing his tone body.

“I give up!” he exclaimed.  “That kid is impossible to find!  We’re wasting our time.”

I sat at the foot of the chair, keeping to the edge.  “Then let’s find Kwangmin-ah.  He should be easier to find.”

“No!  It’s boring!  Let’s do something fun.”

“Like what?”  I’ll admit, I’m not one of the funnest people in the world.

A smirk pulled at his lips.  “Dance.”

I still wasn’t sure what the smirk meant, but dancing did sound fun.  I nodded, standing up and following Youngmin to the dance floor.  It was still fairly crowded, but not so much as it was before.  Up-beat music blared from the large speakers on the patio.  The music pounded into me, shaking my body from the inside out. 

“Can you dance?” I asked Youngmin.

“Yes, can you?”  It almost sounded like a challenge.

In a rare moment of cockiness, I smirked at him.  “Watch.”

Surprisingly, I found a large enough area on the dance floor and began.  If running was my life, dancing was my passion.  My feet moved by themselves, matching the fast beat.  Moving my hands and arms, I free-styled on the dance floor, popping and swaying and spinning.  I danced out the song and when it was over, I turned to face Youngmin.  He faced me, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.

“You should close that,” I told him.  “You don’t want to eat flies.”

Quickly, he snapped his jaw shut, but his eyes were still round balls of disbelief.

Blushing, I looked away from his questioning face.  “What?”

“…”

I sneaked a glance at Youngmin, trying to figure out what he was thinking.  Unfortunately for me, I’m not a mind reader. 

“Youngmin-oppa?”  My heart palpitated against my chest.  Did I really make a fool of myself?  Was I that bad?  Just when I was really getting worried and embarrassed, Youngmin finally spoke up.

“You…are…daebak!”

I jerked my head up, staring at his smiling face.  “…Mwo?”

“That was so cool!” he praised.  “I thought you were amazing at running, but that was incredible!  Where did you learn to dance like that?”

“Um, I’ve always liked dancing.  I’ve taken dance lessons since I was, like, four.”  Then, turning the conversation away from me, I asked him, “You said you can dance.  Let me see.”

Youngmin’s smile grew.  “Prepare to have your mind blown.”

He walked over to the DJ, requesting a song, and then quickly returning.  A song came over the loud speakers, one I wasn’t quite familiar with.  Heck, I wasn’t familiar with any k-pop songs. 

nan neoui Boy Friend
nan neoui Boy Friend
neon naui Girl Friend
neon naui Girl Friend

geu eotteon mueotbodado
nunbusin neoreul gatgodo
maeil nan bappa bappa
ni mameun apa apa
nae sarang byeonhaji anha
neo malgo boiji anha
ireon nae mameul wae jakku mollajuneunde

As the song started, Youngmin jumped into action.  His dancing, it was cool and cute at the same time.  Is that even possible?  For Jo Youngmin, apparently it was.  I couldn’t help but gape in fascination as he danced.  He thought I was good?  This kid was ten times better than I could ever be!  His smile brightened his face and he even winked at me a few times, sending my heart into a melting, frenzied mess.  What the heck?  What was my problem?  I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to keep my composure throughout his performance, even complimenting and praising his dancing ability when he finished.

By that time, the sun had started its descent, turning the sky orange and pink and purple.  The backyard had emptied somewhat, but there were still many teenagers hanging around.  Personally, I was ready to go home.  I felt exhausted from the day’s activities and the crowd of bodies pressing in on me from all sides.  Wanting to take a breather, I told Youngmin that I’d be back soon, leaving him on the dance floor for the refuge of the grass by the fence. 

Sighing, I sank to the ground, leaning against the sturdy fence.  Nobody was in this area, a ways away from the party.  I closed my eyes, relishing the soft breeze that caressed my skin, sending goose bumps along my arms and legs.  I shivered lightly, my muscles reacting to the coolness. 

I felt something warm wrap around me.  Opening my eyes, I saw Youngmin tuck his thick towel under my chin, enfolding it around my shoulders.  The light reflected off his blond hair, casting a halo around him.  For a breath-taking moment, he reminded me of an angel.

Oh, gross, Jin.  What are you thinking?  An angel?  How cheesy can you be?

I mentally shook myself out of my thoughts at Youngmin’s voice.

“Pabo, you’ll catch a cold out here like this.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Um, attending a party,” he answered smart-alecky. 

“No, that’s not what I meant,” I sighed.  “What are you doing over here instead of over there?” I gestured with my head since my arms were snuggled inside the warm towel. 

The boy sat next to me, bringing his knees up just like me.  “Keeping you company.  No one should be by themselves at a party.”

Slightly touched at his thoughtfulness, I wasn’t completely fooled.  “Thanks.  Now what was the real reason you came over.”

Youngmin let out a slow breath.  “Chung Ae-ah found me.  I needed to escape.”

I snorted.  “Escape?  Strange choice of words.  Why would you want to escape her?  She’s gorgeous, talented, has an awesome body…”  My words trailed off as I thought of her thin but tone body, her bouncy brown hair and large almond-eyes.  I shook myself out of the envious thoughts.

“Are you jealous?”  There was more than a hint of mockery in Youngmin’s voice.

I scoffed.  “No,” I lied.

“Good, ‘cause you shouldn’t be.  You are a lot prettier than she is.”

“No I’m not.”

“You are jealous!”

“No, I just know I’m not as pretty as she is.  I’m not jealous.”

“You are really stubborn, you know that right?”

I nodded.  “I know.”

We lapsed into a silence and I couldn’t decide if it was comfortable or awkward.  Settling on the thought that it didn’t matter since I wouldn’t be the one to break it, I waited for Youngmin to either say something or leave.

“You’re wrong,” he said.

“About what?”

“You are prettier than she is.  And don’t-” he rushed as I was about to interrupt him, “don’t say that you aren’t.”

Blushing furiously, I looked away, suddenly very interested in the grass.  What was I supposed to say to that?  Curse my awkwardness!

“What time is it?” I asked.

He checked his watch.  “Almost nine.”

I stood up, tossing his towel at him.  “I need to get going.  I’ll see you later.”

I began walking away from the boy and toward my things.  I hadn’t gotten very far when someone gripped my arm gently.  I didn’t have to look to know it was Youngmin.

“Didn’t I already tell you I would take you home?” Youngmin said.

“I don’t want to be a burden,” I responded quietly.  “You probably still want to stay and I can’t ask you to take me home.”

“You don’t have to ask, I’m volunteering.  Besides, I was thinking about leaving anyway.”

Aish, this guy…

Hesitating, I finally nodded, not able to look away from his capturing gaze.  “Alright.”

We walked back to where we had set down our bags and Youngmin dropped his hand from my arm.  A small spark of hope longed for him to keep the contact, but I quickly snapped out of it.  Once we had gathered everything together, Youngmin texted Kwangmin that we would be leaving.

“I feel bad.”

Youngmin lifted his head to look at me, but I wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Why?”

I shuffled uncomfortably, feeling his penetrating gaze.

“I’m taking you away from your brother again.”

Youngmin scoffed.  “Please, not this again.  Let me say it one more time,” he took my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him.  “You are not taking me away from Kwangmin.  I’ll see him at home, I’ll see him tomorrow morning and all day, I’ll see him at school.  Trust me, I would rather be with you than with him right now.”

My eyes rounded slightly and a blush spread across my cheeks.  Our faces were close, too close.  Unsure of what to say, I panicked a little inside.  Youngmin chuckled at my expression and ruffled my damp hair playfully.

“Are you ready to go now?” he asked nonchalantly. 

I nodded, quickly slipping on my flip flops and wrapping my towel around my shoulders to fight off the chill.  While it wasn’t unbearably cold, the cool air was made more potent by my still-damp body.  We kept silent for the most part of the first block.  I tried to hide the shivers that ran up and down my spine, despite my towel.  Youngmin would peek at me to check on me and I would act like I wasn’t cold in the least, but as soon as he looked away, a tremble would break free.  I thought I was doing a fairly good job at hiding it until Youngmin placed an arm around my shoulders, tugging me close.  Surprised, I stumbled and the boy caught me by my waist with his other arm, steadying me. 

“Pabo,” he muttered, his hot breath blowing against my ear, “if you’re cold, why don’t you say something?”  I shivered again, but this time it wasn’t because of the cold.  Youngmin hugged me tighter and I found myself leaning into his embrace.  He wore a dry shirt (which I suspected was his twin’s since Youngmin had gotten his wet) and his body heat flowed through the thin material.  Warning sirens wailed inside my head, cautioning me, reminding me what happens when you get close to people.  But I ignored them, just enjoying the moment for now. 

“I’m not cold,” I lied, my voice a low, obstinate mutter.  A shiver belied my act.

“Really?”  The amused disbelief in his voice was hard to miss.  I nodded, burying my face deeper in his shirt.  Youngmin breathed out a laugh that sounded more like a sigh.  “Don’t be so stubborn.”

“I’m not stubborn,” I protested, my complaint dangerously close to sounding like a whine.

He was silent and I could feel both of our beating hearts.  The atmosphere was thick as he held me, one arm around my waist, the other around my shoulders.  Youngmin laid his head on top of mine and my heart stuttered.  Suddenly (and too soon) he pulled back, wrapping his own towel around me.

“Let’s get you home,” he whispered.  Numbly, I nodded, unable to speak, and followed him as he led me back to my apartment.