"So what's the deal with this guy?" Jiyong glanced at his little brother who was glaring at him with annoyance. 

"He's evil. All girls like him. He's an idiot. I'm totally better looking than him. He likes to make my life hell and the beautiful Goddess lives along side him, which makes me hate him even more."

"Anything else?" Jiyong crossed his arms in annoyance. Those weren't the points he wanted to hear. Though, his brother clearly already hates the guy, this could spell better for his plans. 

"Oh and he's hopeless with Chae Rin. Hyung, you should see how he acts around her! It's fricking  hilarious! One time -"

The older man's eyes furrowed. Hopeless? Like in love? Was it similar to the way Chae Rin looked at him? And if it was, this would surely diminish the chances of his brother.
 

"- He actually tripped so badly because he was fighting me for her sandwiches. Mind you, I was only doing it to annoy him."

Annoy him? Why is his brother slowly sounding more and more gay to his ears?

"-He also stammers in front of her, but when i do that she hits me. How is life fair, hyung?" Seunghyun said, collapsing into the bed and thinking of all the beatings he had suffered since childhood. But then, he remembered, Chae Rin hit everyone else that annoyed her so it played out fine since he wasn't the only one who had to suffer. Plus, he was used to it. Secretly, he felt like a single day wouldn't be complete without a bit of maiming between them two.

"You know you sound like you have a crush on this Jaebeom.. Should i even bother getting you and Chae Rin together?" Jiyong said, now bursting into laughter the idea of how dysfunctional the family would be if another guy joined it. 

"YAH IM NOT GAY HYUNG. I'VE PLEDGED MYSELF TO THE BEAUTIFUL NOONA WHO LOVES CORN. AND NO TAKE BACKSIES. MINE. DONT EVEN DARE TO LOOK AT HER WHEN WE GO TO THEIR HOUSE."

"So you do want to go?"

"Maybe a little. As much as I hate that guy, I'm curious as to how he lives. I've never seen his parents at any school events.." Was he an orphan, Seunghyun wondered. They didn't like each other only because Jaebeom treated him badly for being around Chae Rin. And Seunghyun hated all the attention he got. Especially from the girls of his class. 

But maybe he needed it. For self-esteem? Naaah. At the back of his head, Seunghyun knew that the idea of Jaebeom being a prancy vampire evil lord exists. Come to think of it, it would make sense why he adored Chae Rin. More volume equals more blood. Seunghyun shivered. It was certainly creepy and it would explain his perfect skin...Aaah but both ideas seemed so plausible, he just couldn't decide which one to believe. 

... Perfect skin???!?! No! Seunghyun was not gay. He swears he wasn't!

Jiyong frowned. He was silently standing, watching his brother's expressions change. Could he actually be gay? Jiyong pondered and sighed, finally resigning himself on his bed beside his brother and propping a book open, one of Tolkien's, a favorite. Still, though he wasn't willing to admit it, he couldn't stop thinking of the possibility of someone taking his princess away. 

The doorbell rang, once, twice and the shuffle of feet could be heard from the other side.  Chae Rin bit her lips with a mixture of nervousness and elation, nervous because other than Seunghyun, she's never been to other boy's house and elated because not only was she going to see her newly-found friend, beside her stood Jiyong. She let herself breathe a small sigh of relief before her lips curved into a smile as the door opened. 

"Hi~ may we come in?" She looked at Jaebeom before her eyes glanced around, a hit of surprise donning her face. He was rich, like she suspected all their childhood, well, more like /knew/ based on who his friends were. But she didn't know he was this rich. As they stepped inside, she noted that it was unusual for an apartment. Well, loft. Do lofts usually have a staircase inside it? Nonetheless, the place was huge and neat; not a thing out of place and everything seemed to have been taken out of a designer's magazine.

"W-welcome. Please, the seats are over there," Jaebeom motioned Chae Rin to the spacious living room. She caught the boy making ugly faces at Seung Ri and thought to herself that the two could probably become really close friends if only they stopped their bickering for a second. She wouldn't mind Jaebeom joining their little group only if he would stop annoying her. She didnt really hate him, he was just simply annoying. 

Chae Rin passed a basket of fruit to Jaebeom before being greeted by a loud voice.

"Chae Rin-ah, annyeeeong!" Her unnie smiled and waved at her making her happy. As warped as it was, Chae Rin never really had a lot of friends growing up. Somehow, her weight always seemed to bother other people though it never bothered her. And yet, here was someone she just met and not once did Bom ever mention a word relating to her being overweight. Not once had she looked at Chae Rin with disgust. It was a feeling that made her happy, a feeling she'd like to keep for as long as she can. 

"Annyeong, unnie~"

Seunghyun stuck out his tongue at his sworn enemy, the muscles on his arms clenching and getting ready to spring into defense if anything were to happen. He was in enemy territory, more so than usual. Though now, he absolutely had no reason to lose. He didn't want to look uncool in front of the glorious corn-loving woman.

But before Seunghyun can say something to Jaebeom, he felt a hand at his shoulder - his hyung's, a way to forewarn him of a beating if he misbehaved. 

The child backed away and watched as Jiyong smiled brightly at his own enemy, and saw with satisfaction Jaebeom's face contort into pure hatred for his best friend's prince.


 

One True Prince, Jaebeom thought bitterly as he looked at the hand offered to him. Should he take it and squeeze the living daylights out of those hands or act polite as if its owner's very existence weren't a bother to him? He knew he wasn't being fair, he didn't know the man. He couldn't have done anything to warrant such hatred, but he also couldn't have done much to warrant so much love. Her love. It never dawned on Jaebeom's mind that what they felt at the time was a mere crush and not yet love. He didn't know it yet, but once it blooms in his heart, all his jealousy would take second place. But this was still far far ahead of their little story, and so he shook it, avoiding the older man's studious gaze and let go quickly.

"Chae Rin-ah, do you want anything to drink?"

"Just water please. How about you, oppa? Seung ri?" Jaebeom watched her turn to her companions, a smile upon her lips. He sighed inwardly, if this was what it took to keep her like that, then he would live with being courteous for the time being. 

"Me too," Jiyong said, making Jaebeom's head snap back to the older teenager. Really, when he thought about it, there was nothing special with the Prince. His voice was unusually higher than most guys and he was pretty scrawny-looking too. He wasn't tall or handsome. Just a normal kid. Now, really, what kind of sorcery was at hand that someone so special could fall for someone so normal?

Jaebeom's thoughts were interrupted by the Annoying One's voice, "Nah, thank you. I don't want to be poisoned by Babeom." 

"Enough you two," the commanding voice of Bom echoed in Jaebeom's head making him straighten himself out. Nope. He was not going to embarrass himself infront of Chae Rin in his own house.

Sighing inwardly, the woman looked onto her care, the poor kid's unrequited infatuation clearly mirrored in that of Chae Rin's for this "Jiyong". And looked she did, examining their oldest guest with an eye before sitting beside Chae Rin

"Thank you for the fruits! You really shouldn't have brought them." She said before leaning in to whisper in her dongsaeng's ear. "You guys look cute together."

And what amazed her was that it wasn't a lie. There was something in the boy's expression that made Bom wonder if it really was just platonic -  the way Jiyong looked at Chae Rin, as if he was ready to take her away from here at any second. And because the boy looked at Jay so cautiously, and at one point, glanced him the tiniest bit of annoyance, that Bom still wondered whether it was just her imagination playing on her.

A smile was brought onto her lips when she saw the blush on the younger girl's face. Ah what a time to be young. Smiling, The Corn Goddess pondered why no other boys were around this little girl. She was brilliant, beautiful despite the extra handles, and if you were able to identify it correctly, she was full of affection. Little smiles or smirks, when she joked around. She noticed how it was a sign of closeness. Even if Chae Rin didn't know it herself, she felt comfortable enough with Jaebeom to act normally around him. This, at the very least, gave the Goddess hope for her boy.