The doctor had finished bandaged up my swollen ankle and hands Mika some painkillers he prescribed for me. He arrived fifteen minutes after Youngbae had called him. Everyone is inside the room, too nosy to wait for the doctor’s conviction outside and decided to hear and watch him examined me in the room instead.

Turns out, it’s not as serious as we all thought. None of my bones broke but it is a serious sprained that I almost tear off my ligament if I hadn’t be more careful. Everyone say their thank yous to the doctor as he leaves but only one person still has gloom covering his face.

“How do you feel?” Mika sits at the end of the bed, my left leg.

“Better after he gave me that pain killers” I answer tiredly.

“I thought you’re good at skiing, Hyuri-ah!” Seungri teased, standing to my right.

“I’d race you if I don’t have this bandage” I threaten him, which only makes him giddier.

“I guess we better stay the night” Youngbae comes in with a glass of water he places on the nightstand next to me. “It’s too late, the road will be too icy”

“You know, Jiyong hyung also has problems with his ankles” Daesung says as he sits on one of the chairs.

“I don’t anymore” The gloomy idol retorts.

“Yea yeah, whatever you say” Seunghyun brushed him off and lean closer to me, “He’d act all tough and gruff but when his ankle sprained he’d wail like a ”

That information somehow makes me smile. The image of the arrogant idol crying his eyes out seems to be too farfetched to even dream of that it’s funny. He is too arrogant, self absorbed and simply irritating to be able to cry. Watching him cry would probably look like watching Terminator cleans the toilet, it’s not pretty.

“If you guys are going to make fun of me, I’ll just wait outside” The idol says. It sounds off coming from him. From the moment I met him, I know he never takes from anyone. Anyone, except me. Everyone would or make fun of him but they’ll regret it the moment he glowered at them. But not now, not today. He seems off.

“Wait” I call him out as he reaches the threshold of the room.

He freezes, his back is facing me but he makes no attempt at turning.

“Why do you think you bring bad luck to me?” I blurt out, not really care that this must’ve shown that I eavesdrop on them earlier.

“Errr… I think we should go” Youngbae says, tapping Daesung and Mika to stand, but Mika is not moving. She’s determined to stay, unlike how it was last week.

“You don’t mind me staying here, do you Hyuri?” Mika her head.

I shake my head while the rest of the boys grimace nervously. The idol doesn’t answer but he doesn’t leave either. It’s like he’s debating what to answer and how to give me the answer. The room is suddenly filled with tension that I hadn’t intentionally inflicted.

“Well then, Jiyong oppa? Aren’t you going to answer her?” Mika tilts her head to the idol while Seunghyun taps her shoulder nervously.

As we wait, not knowing when he’s going to answer, he finally speaks gruffly, keeping his back to me, “It’s always bad news for girls who hangs out with me”

“I never got any bad luck from hanging out with you” Mika replies instead, “I got Seunghyun oppa because I hang out with you” She reaches out behind her to grab Seunghyun’s arm in confirmation.

“Because I don’t see you that way” The idol replies almost immediately.

“You told me you see me and Mika the same way” I reply as quickly.

“I thought I was” He says darkly. “But clearly, I’m not”

I frown, “I don’t understand”

“Just take it as a warning” He says before he leaves.

I look around the room and the boys are looking at everywhere else except me. It’s too obvious that they’re trying to shift their attention away from me so that I don’t ask them anything. But I’m too confused as to what the heck is going on.

The idol was cold and poised when I met him this morning. Then he warmed when we were about to go to ski. Then he was incredibly fragile when he invited me for a meal. Now he is changed into a distant person. How the hell can a person changed that often in a span of less than a day?!
 

“He’s got a lot in his head, Hyuri-ah” Youngbae says as he notices my inner struggle.

“You know what” Mika turns around to face the boys, “I was assigned to this task but I think you guys know something more than I do! He’s been saying that he shouldn’t do this over and over again when we were outside”

“What task?” I kick her thighs slightly.

“Oh, Hyuri!” She brushes me off, “I love you, very dearly. But sometimes you are too dense to notice stuff around you and I can’t really bothered to explain now”

“Ya!” I kick her stronger but she doesn’t faze.

“Boys…” She eyes them threateningly.

“Go for Daesung. I think he’ll cave in” I whisper loud enough for just Mika to hear.

“Dae…” Mika changes her tactics and the guy with the name whimpers and not long he begins to rant as if his life depends on it.

“It’s Jiyong hyung! He’s very sensitive about his love life! It never lasts! It’s either him jeopardizing it or the girl kicks him out! Either way, it was always something happened to the girl beforehand. He thinks of himself as a bad omen!” He breathed out heavily, as if he just ran a marathon.

“You really are stupid!!” Seunghyun slaps Daesung hard on the head, making the latter jerk forward violently.

“Aishh…” Youngbae wiped his face while Seungri chuckles silently, amused by the stupidity of his brother.

“I didn’t see him as that self-conscious about women…” Mika wonders.

“I didn’t see him as that self-conscious about anything…” I look at the empty threshold where the idol was standing.

“Being in a relationship gives him inspiration to be creative. It drives him to write songs better. But he knows that his art cannot be all about hearts and flowers. It needs angst, anger, and frustration. And he is determined to get it by experience through his exes” Youngbae starts to explain.

“So when things starts to settle,” Seungri continues the story, “Ji hyung would always find something to mess it up, intentionally or unintentionally. He would drive the girl insane that they had to break up. It sends him to sadness and loneliness but that’s what sets him going for another hit song, and he knows it.”

“That’s mental!” Mika punch the bed, shaking me slightly.

“He told me the chaebol’s inspired him” I remember those times where we were enjoying the night and he told me stories about himself.

“He did?” Seunghyun looks intrigued, “Well, he hadn’t had girlfriends since…”

“I’ve never met him with a girlfriend” Mika says.

“That’s right! Since he befriended you!” Seunghyun claps his hand once in realization and point his long finger at Mika.

“He just broke up a week before from that overly clingy girl, didn’t he? What’s her name again?” Daesung taps his chin to think.

“Ah~” Youngbae nods, “Yeah, maybe the story from that breakup is still enough to got his juiced going during that time”

“Does he know this?” Mika look at the boys in worry.

Youngbae shrugs, “I’m sure he knows. It’s his way of coping with the pressure of an artist”

“By sabotaging his relationship??” Mika hiss furiously.

“By getting any means necessary to gain new experiences” Seungri rephrases.

“So why does he thinks he’s a bad omen if he knows the reasons behind his breaks ups? I mean, if he thinks he’s a bad omen, he could just simply change his way and treat his girl better” I frown, still not getting the full picture.

“Because he couldn’t help it. Even if he tries to be nice to his girl, he’d somehow hurt her” Youngbae answers.

“How?” Mika pries.

Youngbae looks at the ground while let out an amused