You grasped onto your coffee cup, holding onto the warmth that was sleeping out of it.  You take a small sip, and smile.  The perfect temperature.

Your phone buzzes beside you, showing that you have a text.  From Hyunseung.  You lazily unlock your phone.

          Good morning~

         I forgot to tell you yesterday that you're allowed to come back anytime :D Manager hyung said so.

You smile, and text him back.

          Why would I want to come back? ;D

You place your phone down, and almost immediately get a text back.  You shake your head.  What a fast texter.

          Eh?!  I thought you liked it though... :(  What I was TRYING to say was if JULIA wants to come by, she can, because we don't always have time to visit you....

You hear footsteps on the stairs and you put your phone down.  Julia will start spazzing.

"Good morning, _____."  Julia dragged her hand across her hair, making her messy hair even more tangled.  "I'm gonna go make breakfast."

Julia walks into the kitchen, and you stand up to go help her, when your phone buzzes again.  You think about ignoring it, but then you grab your phone, and just try to act casual when you checked the text.

         Oh... I see the emoticon now.. haha silly me.

A flicker of a smile appears on your face, but Julia already noticed it.  It's too late to hide it.

"Who was it?"

"... Hyunseung."

Julia dropped the measuring cups she was holding.  "Really?  What did he say?"

"... we can go back to the Cube thingy any time?"

Of course.  Julia started spazzing, and hit her head on the wall.

"Aish!"  Julia covers her head with her arms.  You roll your eyes.  Not again.

"That's--- oh my Buddha!"  Julia picks up her measuring cups again and piles them in the huge bowl.

You look out the window as Julia throws in all of the ingredients, with the additional chocolate chips.

It was a b2utiful spring day.  You laugh at yourself for using what word.  B2utiful.  You wonder what Beast was doing right now.  Working?

"Whatcha staring at?"  Julia stuffs a bag of chocolate chips in .

"Nothing.  I'm just thinking."  You stare at Julia chomping on the chocolate.  "One day, you're going to get diabetes."

"I know."  She stuffs another handful in .  "If I'm going to die, it will be of diabetes."

"I see."  You squint.  It's Saturday.  So no classes.  "What do you want to do?"

"Let's see." Julia started flipping pancakes, and chocolate chips spilled out of and onto the pancakes and the floor.  "I want to go eat somewhere.  With good food."  Julia stacks pancakes onto a plate.

"Nooo.  I wanna go to a place with bad food."  You say sarcastically.

Julia breaks down laughing for several minutes.  "You... shut up!"  

The pancake on the skillet burned.

"Ah poo!"  Julia threw the pancake aside, and it dissolved to crumbs.  "See what you did?  Waste of a pancake."

She finished flipping all of the pancakes, and placed the plate on the table.

The pancakes were the size of your palm, and you just grabbed one and bit into it.

"This is not a pancake,"  you stare at the plate weirdly.

"It is a pancake!  I call it a pancake, so it's a pancake!"  Julia fiercely grabs a "pancake" and bites into it.  "Yeah.  It's not a pancake.  It's a cookie."

"Exactly.  Something only Jewia can do."  You grab another cookie.

Julia claps for herself.  "Thank you!"

"Where do you wanna eat?"  You bring up the subject again.

"That ramyun shop."

You pause, the cookie halfway to your mouth.  "What?"  you bite half of the cookie, and sigh.  "Julia, we went there last week.  We may get tired of it if we go there too much."  You wave a finger at her, out of her reach.  "I'm trying to add in some logic.  Next week."

Julia sulks, and drops her head into the cookies.  "Okaaay."

"Second choice?"  You slide the plate out from under her head.

"Ice cream."

"Ice cream?"  You repeat.  Your mind is blank for a moment as you try to remember, but you soon recall an ice cream shoppe you went to a few months ago.

You look at Julia's crumb covered face.  "Okay."

Julia jumps up.  "Yay~  This is the first time I get ice cream for lunch!  Your logic is weird-- you don't allow ramyun but allow ice cream."  Julia freezes, as if she just realized something.  "Oh, _____, do you think Beast would want to come too?"

"Next time, Jewia."  You pat her head.  It was hard to believe that she was older than you.  "You have to let them recover from their experience with you yesterday."

"Aww.  It'll probably take another week."  Julia sulks again.

"Well anyway,"  You grab the plate of pancake/cookies and pile them into a plastic bag.  "We'll bring these.  If we meet anyone we know, give it to them.  Tell them they're cookies."

Julia's face brightens as she takes the bag.  "And then tell them they're pancakes after they eat it?"

"Of course."

Julia chuckles evilly.  "I like this game."

You nod and smile.  This joke was actually meant for people at the university who act super nice to you and then talk behind your back.  So basically everyone.

Julia drops the bag on the table, a crunchy noise following the drop.

"You should tell Hyunseung about this, _____!"  Julia growns slightly.  "He doesn't know you're going through this.."

She's talking about the bullying at school. "Why would he want to know?"

"He's a singer.  He's bound to have gone through this before..."

Julia looks up at you innocently.  "He could at least suggest something.  Revenge is fun.  I love revenge.  But, it doesn't actually solve anything."

You put your hands up, surrendering. "Whooah.  Jewia's being serious."

Julia's nose blushed red, and she slammed her hands angrily on the counter.  You can feel the vibration through the counter.

"I can't take it!"  she yells softly.  "I hate those people, talking  about you and stuff.  They target me sometimes too."

"And then,"  Julia raises her voice. "And then, they all act like they love Beast.  They go and say things like 'Oh oppa' and 'They're so hot' and 'Yoseob's my hubby."  But they only like Yoseob because he's cute, and Yoseob's mine!  He's my play buddy!  And I like him for more reasons than he's cute!"  Julia's Jewia Rage ended with a gibberish scream, and she crossed her arms as she plopped onto the floor.

"Arasseo, I'll tell them."  you say quietly.  "As time goes on.  The closer we get, the more I'll have to tell them, okay?"

Julia didn't answer you, but silently got up and grabbed the cookie bag.

"You wanna go get ready now?"  You suggest.  "We woke up late, so it's like 11:00 right now.  I'll treat you."

At the words 'I'll treat you,' Julia dropped the bag and pranced to the stairway, leaving the cookies.

You smile and grab the cookies.  "Now I have to carry them."  You murmur as you slouch your way up the stairs.

~~

"Let's go let's go I'M HUNGRY." Julia runs in tiny circles as you slowly (very slowly) step down the stairs.

"Get your stuff you said you were treating me!"  She attempts to rake her hands through her hair and gets her hands tangled instead, and she screams in frustration.

You finally get down the stair and go to the kitchen to grab your phone.

You yank the phone from the charger and your phone alerts that you got another text from Hyunseung

          Me and the kids are getting lunch.  You want to join?

You think of Julia, who was screaming for ice cream at the moment, and you reply to Hyunseung.

          Me and Julia are getting lunch already.  Thanks though.

You walked back to Julia, who was impatiently kicking the front door.  You hastily slip your phone in your bag before running in to save the door.

"Okay okay, I'm coming!"  You push Julia aside to open the door.

As Julia raced to the car, you take a second to look at your barren yard.  Everytime you walk out here, you compare it to all of the other flower-filled yards, and feel ashamed that you and Julia haven't done anything yet.

"_____, _____!  Hurry up.. BABO!"  Julia slaps the side of the car.  "Or I'll leave without you!"

"I'm coming!  If you leave without me I can't treat you!"  This causes Julia to go silent as you hurry to the car, and she backs out of the driveway.

"This is the first time I'll get ice cream for lunch!"  Julia exclaims again.

"So you've told me before, like, and hour ago." You answer.

"I'm so excited!  Have you ever gotten to do this?"

You shake your head, and you suddenly feel a familiar sensation.  You shut your eyes.

The sun shone clearly through the trees.  Fresh green grass grew everywhere, and along a little path, an old man guided a small ice cream cart, the tinkling music soothing your ears.

You sat at a wooden bench on the side of the dirt path, a popsicle in your hand.  A slightly older boy sat beside you, holding a small paper bowl with ice cream in it.

With his small wooden scoop, he scooped the ice cream up and plopped it into his mouth.  He smiled as he did so.

"Ah~  I'm glad the ice cream man went by.  You're treating me next time."  Hyunseung points his spoon at you, and you smile.

"The popsicle's really good,"  You stare at your popsicle, checking for any melting.

"Especially with this weather..."  Hyunseung looks at the surrounding trees, a satisfactive look on his face.

Then Hyunseung got an idea.  You can tell, because of the way his eyes widened and he smiled a little more.

"It'd be great if we could have ice cream for lunch one day,"  Hyunseung expresses.  "I mean, it's amazing after a meal, but imagine..  but we'd have to ask Umma and Appa.."  He frowns, but then turns to you and smiled really big, and you couldn't but smile too, and nod in agreement.

"_____?  _____."  You wake up to see Julia's face right in front of you as she waved both of her hands at you.

You realized you were slouching in your seat, and you sat up.  "We're here?"

"Yeah.  You kind of shut your eyes and fell asleep the entire time."

You look around, and see a small parking lot, with several shops.  Your car was parked right in front of an ice cream shoppe with the bold words: COLD STONE CREAMERY, across the top of the building.

You pile out of the car and rub your eyes while Julia fumbles for money in her wallet.

"Where's my money-- OH!!" Julia drops her wallet back into her bag.  "I forgot YOU'RE TREATING ME!"  Julia sweeps up her bag.  "I love it when I realize that!"

You roll your eyes, and almost regret promising such a thing.  You stomp up to the door while Julia skips behind you.

You push open the door, and a small chiming welcomes you.  Surprisingly, the small store is empty, and your footsteps echo off the walls as you walk over to a small table near a window to place your bags.  As Julia runs over to the counter to pick her ice cream, the chiming of the door bells reach your ears again as the door swings open.  You recognize the voices of the people who entered.

"Ice cream?!  Who chose this place for lunch?"

"It wasn't me, hyung!"

"Of course it was you!"

"No, it was Hyunseung--"

You and Julia whipped your heads around at Hyunseung's name.

Doojoon was yelling at Yoseob and Yoseob was yelling back in his defense as Hyunseung, Dongwoon, Gikwang, and Junhyung entered the ice cream store.

"Hyung, Hyunseung was the one who-- WHOA-- OH MY GOD IS THAT JEWIA AND _____?!"

Yoseob points to you and Julia, and Doojoon's eyes follow Yoseob's hand, and Doojoon jumps, shocked.  Hyunseung acts natural, but you can see him twitch his eyes back and forth to you.

Yoseob and Hyunseung are the first to react.

"Yay I can see you again today!!"  Yoseob runs to Julia and hugs her.  Julia screams and hugs him back, and they both jumped up and down as they hugged.

Hyunseung gave up acting natural.  "Oh my god-- oh my god--- oh my god--"  Hyunseung has his hands on his head and is looking at the ceiling.

"You. Yesterday. Now. Lunch. Ice. Cream. Why." Doojoon blurts out several random words as he points at you to Julia.  Everyone else is standing frozen by surprise.

"Everyday I shock.."  Gikwang manages to say before smiling.

Julia continues the rest of the chorus, and you realized the person at the counter is ignoring them, but does not look like she had any intention to stop them.  Thank goodness.

Dongwoon was the next to regain his senses.  "Let's put these two tables together," he suggests, and grabs one of the tables.

Yoseob slapped Junhyung so that he would wake up from his surprise.

"OO-WAH!  Wake up, Yongjun!  Fix the tables!"

Junhyung playfully slapped Yoseob back. "Don't tell me what to do!"  But he went to help Dongwoon anyway.  Julia grabbed both of your bags from the other table to place it on the two new ones.

"I'm ordering first!"  Julia happily runs up to the counter and stares at the variety.  "And, I'll get the.. the... Cookie Minster thing.. with.. raspberries and gummy bears, and marshmallows!  Definitely the marshmallows."

The cashier wordlessly typed in Julia's order before turning to you for your order.

"Let's see,"  You smack your lips together.  "I'll get the Cheesecake Fantasy."

You look to Hyunseung and see that he's already staring at you.  "Don't tell me you're getting that."

He looked away.  "I was not.  Why would you assume that?"

"You're expression says everything? You're pretty easy to read, oppa."

Hyunseung ignored you, and stalked to the counter.

He slammed his hand on the one he wanted.  "I want the Banana Caramel Crunch."

The cashier looked alarmed at Hyunseung's forcefulness.  She quickly punched in his order and bowed to him.

Yoseob leans over.  "Don't worry,"  he whispered in your ear. "He actually was going to get the same thing as you.  He got something else so that he could prove a point."

You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding.  You thought he was actually mad at you.

You calmly talked with Yoseob, who had Julia clinging on his leg, until everyone had their ice cream.

As you sat down with your ice cream, you noticed Hyunseung.  He was staring at his ice cream, but it was obvious that he wasn't going to eat it.

You nudge Yoseob, and point to Hyunseung.  "Is something, like, wrong with him?  It's like, it's like.." you glance at Hyunseung again.  "It's like he's having a staring contest with the ice cream!"

Yoseob gazed at Hyunseung, his eyes squinted.  "Ah, yes.  Ice cream is not meant to have staring contests with.  Aha!"  He bangs his plastic spoon of the table.

"So you see,"  he continued to whisper, covering his mouth.  "When we come here, he always gets that flavor."  He points to your ice cream. "The cheesecake thingy.  It's his favorite.  He's probably debating whether to eat this new flavor or not."

"Are, are you sure?"

"Well how would I know?" Yoseob whispers back fiercely.  "He's our 4D prince.  Unpredictable."

Unpredictable? Not to me. You stare at your ice cream, frowning.  You felt bad now.

"What's with that frown?"  Hyunseung pokes your cheek with his spoon.  "You're supposed to be happy!"

You took a deep breath.  "Oppa, I'm not hungry.  You can have my ice cream."  You pushed your bowl to him.

Hyunseung's eyes widened, and you can tell he was trying to hold back his happiness. ".. What?  No.  I'm not eating all.  All that."

"Oppa-"

"I'm splitting it."  He used his spoon to transfer half of his ice cream to your bowl and half of your ice cream to his.

"No, I can't finish this," You look at Hyunseung in surprise.

"Don't argue.  I'll feel guilty.

As you stare at your now messy ice cream bowl, you can't help but smile.  "Fine.  Thank you."

The doorbell chimed as more people entered.  Immediately, you could hear the chorus of voices and the tapping of many shoes on tile.  A camera flashed.

Several more cameras flashed, to the point that Julia ducked underneath the table to avoid the light.

Hyunseung scowled in annoyance.  "Out of all days, today."

"What?" You inquire.  "Is this because you're singers?"

"Yes," he answers, his voice low.  "The papparazi sometimes make surprise visits, but how'd they know we'd come here?"

"Doojoon!"  one of the reporters hold out a microphone.  "4minute's Hyuna has informed us that Beast would visit Cold Stone Creamery for lunch."

"Hyuna, that idiot."  Hyunseung curls his hands into fists.

"And she also said that you had two young girls accompany you!"

"Oh my god, Hyuna,"  Hyunseung muttered under his breath.  "Even we didn't know you two would be here."  

You frown.  Hyunseung's becoming scary.

"Are these the two ladies she has spoken of?"  Another reporter waves her hand to you, and Julia, who has poked her head out from underneath the table.

Before anyone could answer, everyone zoomed their cameras on you.  Since Julia was underneath the table, no one bothered to interview her.

"What is your name?" A reporter held out his microphone.  

"Um,_____ ___."  You answer quietly.  Hyunseung gives you a reassuring squeeze on your arm, and Yoseob steps on your foot.

"What is your companion's name?"

You look to Julia.  "Yunchi.  Choi Y-yunchi."

"And miss, are you fans of Beast and how have you come upon them?"

"Um, I guess we are fans," You admit.  "And, we just happened to meet here, so..l guess... we just kind of sat down together for ice cream."

"What is your relation to Beast?"

"You paused.  What would happen if you told.  The public.  What would they say?

You could feel Hyunseung's breath as he leaned in.  You could see the flash when someone took a picture of him doing so.  "The one rule in interviews," he whispered, so softly you could barely hear.  "is to never tell lies."

Your eyes widen as you realize what he's saying. Just tell them the truth.

"I was Hyunseung's childhood friend, and we were very close." You say without hesitation.  "The past few weeks were the first time I have seen him for over nine years.  So we've been visiting each other."

"So you admit you were close.  Are you still close now?"

".. I'm getting in the hang of it."

The reported pulled the mic away.  "Thank you for your cooperation.  If we could please take a few more pictures?"

"Yes, that's fine."  Doojoon cut in.

A few more flashed of cameras blinded you before they all packed up their stuff and quickly left.

It was silent for several minutes, until the last car drove out of sight.

"It'll be out by evening."  Hyunseung murmured.

"What?" you couldn't hear him.  

"The interview.  The news will be out by evening." Hyunseung put his face in his hands, clearly stressed.

"Oh." you remain silent.

"Yoseob nudged Hyunseung.  "What will happen, hyung?"

"Rumors.  There'll be many, many rumors."  Doojoon answered.  "And most of them won't be good."

You bent down and poked Julia.  "It's all right, sweetie."

Julia squirmed out from underneath the table.  "I usually love the cameras,"  Julia shivered.  "I like to interfere.  But.. what is this sorcery?  Too many cameras... so much, they blinded me!"  She put a hand to her forehead.

"I warn you, there will be rumors."  Junhyung smiled warily.  "Are you up to it?"

~~

"We'll see you soon,"  Doojoon waved goodbye.

You shrugged.  "Whenever."

Julia stomped to the car, and you made to follow her when you felt someone grab your wrist.

"I was really hoping you wouldn't have to go through this."  Hyunseung kept his head down.  "But it was too late, I guess."

"Why not?"

"It's worse than you think."  Hyunseung's hand twitched.  "I've seen so many people hurt because of all of the rumors about them.

"I know I can't do anything about it now, but.." Hyunseung looked up directly and into your eyes.  "When you go to school on Monday, I have no doubt that someone will try to, um, let you down."  He tried to find the words for it.  "It will be hard, but... try to endure it. You're not alone.  You have Julia.." his voice faded away.  "... and me.  I don't want you to get hurt."

He smiled and let go of your hand. 

"Good luck."

I am soooo sorryyyyyyyyy D: it took forever for me to update. :(

But just wait.. two extras are coming up :D

This is for you, Jewia XD

thanks to all of you for waiting, i am so happy there are people out there who like this fanfic ♥♥