Thirty One

I sat and allowed my tears to pour out. I’ve never cried like this. This was the first time I was feeling so depressed. First time in my life. I sniffed and blew my nose in the tissue. The cold breeze was cooling; a rain would start soon. I was on the roof, my favorite place in all of the house. I came here often during the night when there was a full moon and when lots and lots of stars were visible. And the roof is pretty high so I can get a good view of the city. Not as good as the rooftop above the grocery mart though.

Ah, why am I crying like this, you ask?

No, it’s not about Jiyong. I’ve cried my eyes out regarding Jiyong too much that no more tears will come out. No. I’m crying about the fact that Yang CEO knows about me and Big Bang living together.

Is it bad, you ask?

It’s bad. It’s very bad. It’s something you, or rather I should worry about. Because you see, Big Bang is an idol group; a top idol group. The fact that they started living with me was decided by my uncle who works at YG before their debut. Well, since they got very comfortable in my house they didn’t change places and move into a separate dorm. Yang CEO wasn’t even bothered by such a thing. He didn’t care where they lived, what they ate, how their health was, or even if they were sick. He wasn’t bothered about anything as long as Big Bang soared high in their album sales. That’s Yang CEO for you.

So we lived with this secret for five years. Minwoo hyung knew, but he swore not to tell because he could see that the boys were very happy living here. And I kept them company and they to me. Everything was fine until CL had to come and drop this bombshell on me.

Nah, I don’t think CL told Yang CEO. Though she’s horrible and rude, I doubt she’d do this. She loves Jiyong too much that I don’t think she’d want to get him and s in trouble. By all means, she’d try to shield them as much as possible with all it takes.

The very bad thing was that now that Yang CEO knew, what would happen to me and the guys? He certainly wouldn’t allow us to go ahead and live together like before. Suppose the media caught a whiff (and it’s been a big surprise that nobody has known until now), this would be the biggest scandal ever. How would it look if the newspaper, TV and magazines contained a huge headline like “FAMOUS IDOL GROUP BIG BANG CAUGHT LIVING WITH A GIRL.”?

We’d be dead. All of us.

No way in hell would Yang CEO let that happen.

So… he’s probably going to change everything. He could shift the guys to a dorm far away. He could fire my uncle. He could punish me (maybe). He could mistreat the guys to have allowed such a thing to happen. He could…

I broke down again. If such a thing happened… i-if Big Bang and I were separated…

I stared at the photo I held in my hands and smiled. It was the first photo we’d taken after the guys started living with me. I was scowling while the guys – still trainees at the time – were striking ridiculous poses.

Beside me was a box full of such old photos. So many memories… too many memories…

They’re not idols to me. They’re not extraordinary. They’re just normal, cheeky idiots I love so much. And Jiyong… I…

Jiyong’s POV

I searched for Jinhee throughout and couldn’t find her anywhere. I was a bit worried. There was only one more place and that was-

Yes! Found her. Sitting on the rooftop. It was a favorite place of hers, to sit there for hours on end at night and gaze at the stars and moon. I smiled and made my way there. When I got closer, I heard sounds.

She was crying.

Worried more now, I slowly and quietly climbed on the rooftop on my hands and knees and sat down beside her. She noticed with a start and looked shocked. Then she hurriedly wiped off her tears and stuffed something into a box beside her.

“Jinhee-ah?” I asked softly.

“Y-yeah?” She tried to laugh, her voice sounding a bit thick. “What?”

“You were crying.” I pointed out and she shook her head violently.

“I didn’t cry. It was… the rain.”

“Sure it was. There’s no rain.” I chuckled and wiped her wet cheek with my fingers. Every time I touched her I felt tingles up my spine. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“It was nothing. Just… yeah, nothing.” She continued to deny.

“Come on. What’s worrying you?” I continued to coax her.

“Nothing Jiyong.”  And each time I heard her say my name, the tingles multiplied.

She continued to deny crying and I continued to coax her into telling me. After a long wh