Jin Gook's vacation had finally came to an end. He dialled Ma Doo Shik and informed him that he's going back to work that Monday morning. Pleasantries were exchanged, with Jin Gook asking his boss how his daughter and his wife had been. Ma Doo Shik narrated to his talent that his wife was well and his daughter was becoming heavier.

Jin Gook dropped the call as he closed his eyes. That day had been his last day of teaching in Kirin. He wondered where Baek Hee might had gone and how she was doing. AS it was already eleven in the evening Friday night, Jin Gook decided to sleep. He'd go to Mrs Yoon's shop tomorrow and ask about Baek Hee. 

***

Jin Gook's eyes widened in shock. Hi friend, Akanishi Jin, looked at him as he looked at a bunch of girls headed towards them.

"I can't believe I'm seeing her here!" he muttered to himself.

"Who is?" Jin asked.

"Annyeong hasaeyo. T-ara-imnida!"

Jin Gook pointed to a member. "Y..Yoon Baek Hee?"

"Ne, Gook-ah. It's nice seeing you here today! By the way, name's Ham Eun Jung." Baek Hee smiled as she looked at Jin.

"Akanishi Jin? Ohayo gozaimasu," she greeted. And the other girls greeted him too.

Jin smiled as he patted Jin Gook's back. "Well well, our concert's gonna be a blast, eh, Jin Gook? We've got pretty girls here!"

Soyeon smiled. "Arigato gozaimasu. Of course, T-ara girls are always pretty. Now that we have two new members, the beauty flourishes even more, right, Eun Jung-ah? Hwa Young-ah?"

"Ne!" the two new members replied.

T-ara then excused themselves as they were headed for the dressing room. But Jin Gook caught BaeK Hee's hand. The latter looked coldly at the former's hands on hers. Baek Hee cocked her head sideways and asked.

"What do you want?"

"Baek Hee-ya..I didn't know..."

"Of course you wouldn't know! Mr Kim forbade me from telling everyone. Now get your hand off me or I'll sprain your arm."

Jin Gook blinked as he released his grasp from Baek Hee's hand. "You..you have suddenly changed. What happened to you?"

"What happened to me is none of your business. I could say I've been given a second chance, and I'm not going to spoil it just because I've met you again today. If I have to play the villainess, so be it. I'm happy where I am right now, and I hope you won't get in my way. Arrasseo?"

***

Jiyeon and Hyomin were helping each other on a wardrobe Jiyeon was fitting on when Baek Hee aka Eun Jung came in.

"Eonnie, are you close with Jin Gook Oppa?" Jiyeon asked as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"Babo. They were the ex-K members, remember?" Hyomin said. Jiyeon cringed her face as she didn't recall the information immediately. Hyomin stood up and turned to Eun Jung.

"But you both seem to have a very serious moment there. Were you two really ex-lovers as what the press had told us?"

Hwa Young, Boram, Qri and Soyeon went over to where the other girls were and suddenly became interested in the conversation.

"Gook-ah never liked me. He had his eyes set on Go Hye Mi, if you remembered her."

"Ah! Is she that Broadway singer?" Qri asked.

"But you two looked so sweet during your K days. Don't tell me that was just a stint," Soyeon asked.

"Stint it was, if you say so, Eonnie. But I do admit I still liked him. Only that he did something to me recently that made me wake up from my baseless emotions."

"Did he call you a lovesick fool?" Boram asked. Bulls-eye. Eun Jung looked at her, then bowed her head. Feeling ashamed, Boram went to Eun Jung and hugged her.

"Mianhe! Mianhe! I didn't know..I didn't know..."

"It's all right, eonnie. After all, I will never be Jin Gook's girl. Hye Mi will always be that girl even if she and K were already in a relationship."

***

Jin played with his cellphone. His friend and ex-Gokusen cast Koike Teppei was seated opposite him, recounting to his friend the movie Rurouni Kenshin. The movie had been shown in numerous theaters in Japan that it stayed at number one for seven weeks. Jin just smiled. His gaze suddenly shifted to Jin Gook who was seated near the mirror, looking at something in his cellphone.

"Yo, Jin Gook, what's the matter? Having girl trouble?"

Jin Gook looked up to Jin and nodded. "Baek Hee..she's..changed."

"Of course she'd change! She even changed her name, right? And now that she's part of a famous girl group, I don't think she'll look for or talk with you anymore. She'll have many male fans, even from within our circles. Who knows, I might even ask her out."

"Do you like her?" Jin Gook asked.

"How can I not like her? She's pretty and y. And as I was your fan too when you were still part of the K group, I've been watching out for her ever since. That Riah girl just doesn't fit in the picture for me, and I don't really have any say on that other girl in your group."

Koike raised his hand to interfere. "Say, Jin Gook, were you both referring to that new T-ara girl?"

"You bet she's the one we're talking about," Jin said as he took a sip of his drink, smiling arrogantly.

"Honto ni? I like her too! She can sing and she really can dance! I wonder where she went all those time after your initial debut. Did that 'incident' really happen, Jin Gook?" Koike asked. He must have hit a very bad spot on Jin Gook that the latter was agape but didn't answer.

"Look what you've done, Koike-kun!" Jin hissed at his friend.

"I..it's all right...I..I wanted to keep that issue at that. Baek Hee and I had the issue settled already. That had long been buried. But I hope it will not surface again."

"Well, if it does, the only one person who can shield her from that would be you," Koike pointed out. Jin nodded in affirmation.

Jin Gook sighed again. He suddenly wanted to ask BAek  Hee about her experiences with the other T-ara members. He suddenly berated himself for trying to even get to know her now that Baek Hee was famous once again.

Just then, the One Day guys entered the room, laughing boisterously. They headed to the dressing room after greeting Jin Gook, Jin and Koike, not even bothering to converse any more with the three guys. Jo Kwon was unsually noisy, and he was laughing gaily. Seulong swatted him in the head, telling him to tone down his "flamboyance". They were laughing because Nichkhun was saying something to Woo Young in English, and the latter was just..blinking. Even Chan Sung had a hard time learning English, so Nichkhun taught him too. Jin Woon and Chang Min listened intently to the lesson.

"They could just have asked me," Jin Gook said as he got his bottled water and drank its contents.

Suddenly, the story shifted from the English language to the T-ara girls.

"Ya, have you heard? T-ara is having a comeback concert along with us, and the two new members will be introduced." Jun Ho said.

"You don't have to sweat it out, Jun Ho-ya. I just had a conversation with Jiyeonnie, and she said the new members are Ryu Hwa Young and Former Ms K Yoon Baek Hee, but she now will use  her screen name  Ham EUn Jung," Jin Woon said. The other members smiled at him.

"Ehhhhh~~~..Jiyeonnie is it now??? SInce when did you get close with her?" Woo Young teased the maknae.

"When? It's really a secret, hyung."

"Oh, that's right, I asked Hyomin-ah too. She said that Ryu Hwa Young has a twin sister in Co-Ed. And Yoon Baek Hee was a previous teacher at Kirin," Chan Sung said. Jun Su looked at him.

"Are you that close with Hyomin too? WHat's with you two? You have T-ara girls for friends! Introduce me to Qri, or Boram, or Soyeon too!"

"Ya, Hyomin-ah was a former JYP trainee!" Chan Sung pointed out. Jo Kwon seconded that fact.

"By the way, where is that Kirin High?" Chang Min asked.

"Wae?" The other guys asked him.

"Well, my cousin, Park Hong Joo, wanted to attend that school."

It was then that the guys took notice of Jin Gook. Seulong nodded over to Jin Gook and asked where Kirin is. Jin Gook told them the address of the school. 

"You were an alumnus there, weren't you?" Jo Kwon asked.

"Ne. And Baek Hee too," Jin Gook said.

Another 2PM member, Taecyeon, asked Jin Gook if he and Baek Hee were close.  

"Don't tell me you're going to ask her out too," Chang Min commented.

"Miss K was my favorite singer from way back then. And now that she's in T-ara, I guess I could ask her out this time!" Taecyeon said.

Jin and Koike looked at Jin Gook. 

"What now? You both already have a rival," Koike pointed to his friends. Jin and Jin Gook didn't answer.