" You look beautiful." Baro complimented Ah-ra as he stepped into the room.

She grinned at the mirror and wore the earring that Dal-rae had given her.

" Really?" she responded and blinked her eyes.

He took several steps to her dressing table, placed his hands on her shoulder and moved his head up and down. His eyes sparkled at the scent of her hair, her hair that fell perfectly on her delicate shoulders and her gorgeous brown eyes that were glowing from happiness.

" But something is missing...don't you think?" he questioned her.

Ah-ra pouted her lips and studied herself in the mirror. Hair, dress, accessories.

" Shoes! I should go borrow a sandal from Dal-rae!" she exclaimed and stood up.

Baro chuckled at her sudden reaction and couldn't resist pinching her nose.

" You meant Baro a Sandeul? Aww...you miss him don't you? I wasn't talking about shoes, you need to wear a necklace to complete that look. Let's see what you have here..." he began to choose a suitable necklace for the outfit.

Ah-ra's eyes followed Baro's hands, he would pick one up but place it back while shaking his head. The next moment, he'll be picking up two necklaces and compare them next to each other, but he was still not satisfied. Finally, he gave up and sighed.

" Fine... Looks like I will have to give it to you now." he placed his hands on his waist and uttered those words sadly.

" Huh?" Ah-ra confusingly looked at him.

" Sit down and close your eyes." he continued.

She obediently sat down, shut her eyes, moved her shoulders and cleared . He walked to her back and took out the present he had been hiding from her from his pocket. He tried to be gentle as possible and lifted her hair up. He placed the necklace on her neck and managed to fasten the necklace without any problems.

" Now, open your eyes." he said and nodded his head. He was happy with the final look.

" Daebak. Seriously, you're the best." she fondled the necklace with the tip of her fingers.

" Let's go now. Everybody is waiting for you. I brought Sandeul along, he promised to keep his mouth shut. Channie is here too. You don't seem to have a lot of friends..." he commented.

" What about Jinyoung? Ha... I thought at least L.Joe and the rest would come... but they're probably too busy. Alright. Can you get me that pink jacket over there? I feel too ..." she politely pointed to her jacket and hugged herself. It was a little bit chilly.

" Jinyoungie hyung? Nope. I didn't see him." he said and swiftly grabbed the jacket and put it on for her. 

Ah-ra quietly stepped out of her room and peeked at the staircase. She could see everybody holding drinks in their hands. Of course, that was what her mother had planned. She bit her lips nervously and tried to breathe, luckily Baro was there with her to make sure she was alright.

" Breathe in and out. Relax. Sandeul is waiting for you, don't trip and make sure you look elegant. Don't forget to smile and raise your hands to greet them. Plus, make sure you walk like a lady, small steps..." he whispered those words to her.

" Shh..." Ah-ra placed a finger on his lips and stopped him. He wasn't helping, he was just making her more anxious.

" So, walk down now." he widened his eyes to her and pointed to the stairs.

Ah-ra nervously gulped and she had this feeling she was going to trip while walking down the stairs. All of sudden, the necklace snapped from her neck. The pendant rolled down to the first level, the guests on the first floor immediate looked up to see her pale face. Ah-ra turned to look at Baro and she panicked.

" That's bad luck..." Ah-ra thought to herself.

" I'd better stick to her today. Something is off." Baro kept those words to himself and nodded to her. He had exactly the same thing in his head.

--------------------

" You look so pretty!" Gongchan and shoved a gift into her hands.

" What's this?" Ah-ra raised her eyebrows and began to unwrap the present from Gongchan.

He rubbed his hands together and grinned happily to himself. He had used a lot of effort to get the perfect present for her. Ah-ra widened her eyes and immediately hid the present behind her back, she passed it over to Baro and told him to hide it. Baro only nodded his head, and while he was on the way to her room to hide the present., he decided to peek. He burst into laughters but managed to cover his mouth.

" Cheeky Gongchan... well, Sandeul had always been unglamorous. This framed picture is nothing to what I see everyday." he commented to himself. 

Sandeul kept quiet the whole time, it was the first time he had been to his girlfriend's house. He felt so incompetent at his own self, how could he just sit around and stared into the same exact place that his father had always frequent. He could only reproach himself for being such a bad son.

" Sandeul-ah, why are you so quiet?" Ah-ra questioned him.

" I'll give you your present later on. Haha..." he tried to lighten up and flashed a smile at her.

Mrs.Shin entered the living room and tried to join the conversation with Ah-ra's friends.

" So you are?" she pointed to Gongchan.

" I'm Gong Chan Shik! Nice to meet you." he politely bowed and introduced himself.

Mrs.Shin changed her attention to Sandeul and asked the same thing.

" I'm Lee Sandeul. Nice to see you again." he said. That was when he realized that he had accidentally said 'again.'

Mrs.Shin widened her eyes and laughed. 

" Have I seen you before?" she questioned him.

" N-no. I mean...Ah-ra has shown me some pictures of you. That's why." he stuttered and hurriedly grabbed a glass of water.

Ah-ra tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows.

" I've never introduced him to my mother..." she thought to herself and stood up to wait for her father and brother to return home.

15 minutes later...

" I'm home! My princess! Happy birthday!" Shinwoo yelled and swung her around in his embrace.

Ah-ra squealed like a little girl and proceeded to give her father a hug.

" Appa!" she cried out and placed her head on his shoulders.

" Aigoo... looks like your friends are here. We can start the party now." he said and immediately headed to the living room to join her friends.

Shinwoo raised his eyebrows and laughed at the number of 'friends' Ah-ra had. One, two, three, that makes it two people since Baro was her bodyguard. All of a sudden there was an eager knock on the door. Shinwoo unlocked it and found himself looking at Jihae. Jihae on the other hand ignored him and nonchalantly walked into the living room and gave Ah-ra a huge hug.

" Onni! I'm glad you came." Ah-ra smiled at her and couldn't help but feel thankful.

" Anything for you, my dear... you've been such a sweet person. How could I not possibly attend your 21st birthday party right?" Jihae responded and passed a bag of presents to the birthday girl.

Shinwoo sighed and when he was about to shut the door close again, the bell rang. Jinyoung huffed and puffed as soon as he entered the house, he clumsily fell to the ground and picked himself up. 

" I'm late." he said.

That made everybody in the room laugh. Yoona covered her face embarrassingly and entered the house as well.

" Yoona sunbaenim!" Ah-ra yelled and squeezed her.

Jinyoung slightly raised his neck up and expected Ah-ra to come to him and give him a hug too. Instead, she only stared into his eyes and walked away from him. He felt like he had been hit on the neck, his blood pressure shot up at the thought of being neglected.

" Yah, you're not going to give your beloved oppa a hug?" he raised his voice and pointed at her.

Well, that definitely didn't happen, it was only Jinyoung's imagination. He tried to summon the courage to say that to her, but he was afraid to act it out, in case she gets upset or something. He stayed by her side the whole time, but still he was ignored. Sandeul on the other hand made sure that Ah-ra wasn't going to talk to Jinyoung. He glared at him the whole time.

" He doesn't even realize that his pants flaps whenever he walks..." Sandeul thought to himself and rolled his eyes hatefully at Jinyoung.

Ah-ra's father observed Sandeul the whole time, he really reminded him of Junghwan. It was the same boy that he had seen last week, holding a bouquet of flowers and present, he had said that he was waiting for Dal-rae. That was when he realized that Sandeul was wearing the same exact ring as Ah-ra. He somehow suspected that his daughter was dating the boy.

" Alright...Ah-ra make a wish and blow the candles!" Gongchan yelled and happily popped the party popper.

The rest followed suit and clapped for her. Then, they stopped for a moment of silence. Ah-ra turned around to look at everyone, Dal-rae was out of sight. She clasped her hands together and shut her eyes tightly. 

" Please bless my family and protect them. I only want the best for them, for Dal-rae onni, I only want her to always be happy. For Shinwoo oppa, I hope he realizes that Jihae onni loves him. For my parents... I hope their love for each other will never die." She secretly wished for those things and she only thought about her family in her wishes.

After wishing, she blew all of the candles on her cake. She grinned happily and turned to look at the person next to her, it was Jinyoung. She immediately did the poker face and acted like she did nothing. Jinyoung rolled his eyes and passed the cake knife to her. All of a sudden, Shinwoo interrupted and grabbed Jinyoung's and Ah-ra's hands, he made sure that the both of them were holding the knife together.

" Everyone!" Shinwoo cleared his throat and raised his voice to grab the guest's attention.

Ah-ra was already panicking and she turned her head around to look at Sandeul. There was a tinge of hurt in his eyes, but he only nodded at her and gave her a slight smile. Jinyoung spotted this and took control of the situation.

" Everyone. I'd like to announce that...my beautiful friend here, as you all might know her as my junior...is finally 21 this year. She's really immatured and some times, I secretly want to punch her in the face...I wasn't very much involved in her life, so I only knew her as the small Ah-ra. However, I'm really happy to see her grow up as a beautiful young lady. She has definitely matured a lot. I love you Ah-ra." he uttered those words and gave her a pat on the shoulder.

The house were filled with whispers. Gongchan covered his mouth and tried to cover Sandeul's ears but it was no use. Jinyoung got onto his knees and pulled out a box from his suit pocket. He exhaled out loudly and turned to look at Yoona. That was when she moved her head up and down to signal to him to carry on.

" I-I, Jung Jinyoung... really love you. With the blessings of our family, I would sincerely...liked you to...uh...uh..." he stammered and forgot the words.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Shinwoo tried not to laugh and the other guests held their breath. Sandeul clenched his fists and controlled the surging anger within him. His face was already as red as a tomato, Baro had to squeeze his hands to get him out of the trance. Throughout the situation, Ah-ra's father was observing Sandeul the whole time. 

" I would like you to accept this ring and...accept my heart. Give me a chance to make it up to you and... I promise to only give you happiness." he uttered those words and pulled out the ring.

--------------------------------

" Congrats! You're finally engaged! This memory will totally be etched in your mind forever!" Jihae congratulated Ah-ra and gave her a pat on the back before walking off.

" Forever..." Ah-ra thought to herself and blindly walked out of the house. 

She sighed heavily and hugged the pink jacket to her body. That was when Sandeul stood by her side and kicked the stones on the ground. He was smiling.

" That ring looks great on you." he voiced out. 

" I'm sorry... I-" she was about to say something when he stopped her.

" So are we supposed to break up now?" he questioned her with a calm face.

" Sandeul-ah..." she grabbed his hands.

" No. This is the right thing for you to do. Dump me." he said.

Ah-ra shook her head violently and choked on her tears.

Sandeul swallowed the hurt back into his stomach. He didn't want to cry, especially infront of her. He felt that he deserved the punishment for lying to her the whole time. For trying to hurt her and he used her to get Dal-rae. With a warm smile on his face, he reached out for the present in his bag.

" Here you go... listen to it when you have the time. Happy birthday. I love you. Good night." he passed her only the tape recorder but the real present that he had bought for her was still in his bag. 

Ah-ra tried to stop him but realized that the guests were still inside. He didn't turn back, it was probably going to be the last time the two will ever contact each other. Well, not until school starts.

Sandeul painfully laughed to himself and brought out the snow globe from his bag. He secretly admired the falling snow and the two figurines in it, they were spinning around in happiness and at the sides were small little animals blessing the couple. It was the perfect love story for the figurines.

" Yah...Lee Sandeul. You can do it! Ah-ra hasn't dump you yet...so you still have a chance." he tried to cheer himself up with those words.

As soon as Ah-ra entered back into the house, she was dragged into a corner by Gongchan. He placed his hands on his waist and demanded an explanation. 

20 minutes later...

" What... this is going to get awkward for the three of us. How can you do this to Sandeul? He's such an innocent soul, I should go cheer him up. Thanks for the food and happy birthday. You're now an engaged woman. I shouldn't be hanging around you too much... hyung is going to get jealous. Look at him, he is eyeing you." Gongchan whispered and picked his bag up to leave the house.

Ah-ra turned around, and there Jinyoung was staring at her. As soon as he realized that he was caught, he swiftly turned his head around and avoided eye contact. All of the guest were finally departing home, and Ah-ra stood at the door bowing to them one by one. Most of them wished her luck in the future and also gave her blessings.

" Don't forget to invite me to your wedding!" Yoona winked at her and sheepishly looked at Jinyoung.

" Go away." he mouthed those words at her.

Ah-ra weakly smiled and only nodded her head. After the guests were gone, she slumped onto the sofa and blankly stared at the colorful screen of her LCD TV. Jinyoung sat next to her and bit his lower lip.

" Why did you accept the proposal?" he questioned her.

Ah-ra furiously turned to him and wanted to slap him, but controlled herself.

" You wanted me to shame you infront of everybody? You knew very well that I said I didn't want to get engaged to you!" she snarled and tried to make sure that nobody heard them.

She turned around to see her family in the kitchen.

" You really don't love me?" he asked her and this time he grabbed her hands.

" Look. Oppa. At least give me some time to explain to Sandeul. I admit, all these years, my heart still loved you. However, Sandeul was the first person to make me get over you for a short period of time. I don't know how to explain it, if it wasn't for my dad's advice or if it wasn't for Shinwoo oppa. I wouldn't have chosen you. If I had met Sandeul earlier than you...things would be different." she explained herself and gazed at the two rings she was wearing.

Jinyoung nodded his head and patiently listened to her.

" I'll give you time to sort things out with him. By the way, you should remove those earrings." he voiced out and faked a smile.

Ah-ra blankly stared into his eyes and touched the earrings.

" Onni gave me this." she reasoned with him.

" I gave her that. I bought those turquoise earrings for her birthday. Turquoise represents the month of December." he explained.

Ah-ra regretfully stared at the ring on her finger. It was a ruby diamond ring. Probably representing her birthday month. Without saying a word, she removed the earrings and placed it into Jinyoung's hands.

" I'm going to find Sandeul. At least let me cheer him up. Baro, let's go." Ah-ra uttered those words and headed out of the house.

Baro followed her without any complains.

" Shin Ah-ra, where are you going?" Shinwoo questioned her.

Jinyoung shook his head at Shinwoo and frowned. 

" I'll follow her." he mouthed those words to her worried brother.

" Ok." Shinwoo nodded and let the couple leave.

After seeing Ah-ra leave, Mr.Shin finally voiced himself out.

" That boy, Lee Sandeul is his name. He seems so familiar. Get Mr.Kim to track that kid down." he instructed his son.

" Sandeul? Ah... he's Ah-ra's classmate. Track him down?" he questioned his father.

" I have a feeling...that... no. Never mind. It's still too early to assume." his father turned around and patted his son on the shoulder.

" Alright. I'll get Mr.Kim to track him down. Don't worry too much." he said.

-----------------------

Baro removed his jacket and covered Ah-ra with it. The night breeze blew against her hair, which covered her face.

" Baro... I'm so sorry. Let's go to Sandeul's place." she said.

" He probably would want to be alone... give him some time...he'll definitely understand. He's a sensible boy." he replied her and pursed his lips.

The both of them continued to walk down the alley, leaves were flying all over, dead silence took over them. However, Baro stopped in his tracks and placed his hands infront of Ah-ra to stop her. 

" What is it-" she was soon shushed by him.

" Shh." he grabbed her and covered . 

Baro squinted his eyes and saw a person's feet sticking out from the corner of the alley. That person seemed to be hiding. All of a sudden, a group of thugs walked out and spat to the ground.

" Stay behind me. When I count to three. Run." Baro bit his lips and held her behind him.

" No! I can't leave you here!" 

" 1...2...3." his heart pounded at every count. 

Before turning back, Ah-ra saw the thugs fishing out their weapons and charged towards Baro. She didn't dare to turn back again, she ran as fast as she could for her house. At least, she was able to get some help and call the police. However, another group of thugs appeared in her direction and she ran in another direction, they were hot on their heels. 

" Get that girl in pink! Send the message to the rest." one of the Moron gang members instructed.

Blood started to rush to Ah-ra's head, her chest hurt from breathing heavily. She had to find another route to her house. Baro needed her help, she ran to the nearest neighbor and frantically knocked the door.

" Who is it?" the woman replied.

" Help me! Help!" Ah-ra screamed but was only to be ignored by the woman.

Ah-ra bit her lips and removed her shoes. They were her only weapons, the track blurred below her and she could feel her heart pumping. She frantically turned around to check whether they were still catching up with her. Luckily, they were out of sight but she could still hear the urgent footsteps.

On the other hand...

Jinyoung smirked and spat to the ground.

" Don't hurt a little girl. Find someone your own size." he yelled at the thugs who were chasing after Ah-ra.

" Finish him off." a moron gang leader ordered the members.

Jinyoung knew fully well that he was outnumbered. Five to one. The only way he could see was from the light coming from the lamp post. Each time, they passed under the light, he could see their shadows and it would blind him momentarily. He didn't mind, as long as Ah-ra was safe, he didn't fear to lose his life. 

That was when one of the gang member decided to attack him, Jinyoung shut his eyes tight and but didn't feel anything.

" Am I dead?" he slowly peeked to look, but there Gongchan was, punching the guy in the face.

" Hyung! Are you alright! Let's go! Run!" he grabbed Jinyoung but was only dragged back to the ground by one of the gang members.

" Not my Gongchan!" Jinyoung yelled and fought back. He swung a punch and used his head to hit the attacker.

Gongchan and Jinyoung had their backs face each other. Two down, three more to go. The three gang members rolled their eyes at them and twirled their weapons in their hands. They enjoyed watching the fear on Gongchan's and Jinyoung's faces. Gongchan tried his best to stay calm and made sure that Jinyoung was close to him. 

" Hyung. If I die today, I just want to tell you that I love you okay? You're the best." he whispered.

Jinyoung swallowed the fear back and nodded. " I love you too but neither of us are going to die. Not today." he responded.

Blood trickled down Gongchan's forehead, that made Jinyoung stronger. The two of them charged towards the thugs and used all of their strength to try and stop them. 

" Not my dear brothers!" Baro yelled and used a baseball bat to finish off the bad guys.

" Another saviour!" Jinyoung thought to himself and fell to the ground.

Gongchan collapsed to the ground from shock and stared at Baro who was kicking the bad guys and using all of their weapons. At one moment, he would grab a wooden stick and hit their heads with it and the next he would be kicking himself up a wall and gifted them with a kick on their faces. His white shirt was already soaked with blood.

" Run you cowards!" he yelled and ran to Jinyoung and Gongchan's side.

" Baro! You..." Jinyoung grabbed him by the shoulders and inspected his wounds.

The three of them were injured but Baro was near to death. All of sudden the three of them heard a loud shriek not far away. It was Ah-ra's voice.

" Andwae... Ah-ra. I have to protect her." Baro sprinted off.

Jinyoung pulled Gongchan up and wiped the blood of his head.

" Are the two of you okay?!" Daehyun ran to their side and grabbed Jinyoung.

" Daehyun! What are you doing here?!" Jinyoung raised his voice and hugged his childhood friend that he hadn't seen for a long time.

Daehyun panicked and grabbed his hair in frustration and tried to explain the situation to them.

"Something went wrong, extremely wrong..." he panted and collapsed to the floor.

" Daehyun-ah...don't make me scared..." Jinyoung bit his lips and urgently urged him to speak up.

" Myungsoo and Ah-ra are in trouble... I-I have to get to the other BAP members now. That ugly b***** changed her plans." Daehyun sprinted off after uttering those confusing words.