10.58 p.m.

Yoobin spent the rest of the day locked up in her room. She simply slept the whole day to avoid thinking too much about her scandal, but her parents were worried. Even Jin couldn’t help pacing back and forth in front of her room.

“Noona! Open the door!”Jin knocked on her door. “You haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. Open the door!” He knocked harder. He tried to wake her during lunch and dinner a couple of hours ago but the only response he got were some mumbled, weak shouts from inside telling him that she needed to sleep. Her parents told him that it was normal for her to sleep in a locked room whenever she was feeling depressed, but still, anything could happen and they couldn’t help but felt worried for her.

To his relief, the door finally creaked open. Jin heaved a big sigh before he entered her room.

“Noona! Why did you lock your room the whole day? Do you have any idea-”

“I was just sleeping. Stop nagging.” Yoobin rubbed her sleepy, half-lidded eyes and walked towards her bed again, ready to continue her somber. Jin quickly ran to her and prevented her from lying down by pulling on her arm.

“No, no! You can’t go to sleep. You haven’t eaten a thing this whole day.”

Yoobin was annoyed but she did hope he at least brought something with him. She sat on her bed, ignoring her disheveled hair and the lopsided collar which had fallen down one shoulder as she shot Jin with murderous-yet sleepy- look.

“Do you have food with you right now?”

“I have my M&M’s.” He offered with a pout.

Yoobin grunted in dissatisfaction but she snatched the small brown packet from his hand anyways. Jin seemed unwilling about it, but he was worried enough for Yoobin to sacrifice his precious snack.

“It’s eleven right now. Your parents are already asleep and the foods are all in the freezer. Wait a bit while I reheat them for you.”

“Yeah…” Yoobin muttered thoughtlessly. Jin was not satisfied with her answer and so he forced her to leave the bed and pushed her out of her room.

“Go outside. Get some fresh air or something. You’re not allowed to stay in your room for the moment.”

-

With a defeated sigh, Yoobin exited from the back door and stalled at the backyard. She looked up, bending her neck ninety degrees to stare at the black sky.

“There is no stars. How boring.” Yoobin muttered before she popped a few tablets of the chocolate into . While munching on the sweet snack, Yoobin mumbled some songs randomly.

“Do you know how much I worried about you not liking me, but you love me too much. Omona! say it again! Tell me, tell me…”

“Like this yo, like this!” Yoobin did smaller gestures of the original choreograph, like a lazy version of it as she changed the song all of a sudden. “Shake it up shake it down like this. Like this, yo! Like this! To the left, to the right! Like this- Ah, this is tiring.”

Then, she recited her rap part in one of Wonder Girls’ song.

“Why doesn’t this popularity cool down?
y eyes Go Soo Young
My beautiful legs like Ha Ji Won
I can’t help it
I think everyone likes me, oh no!
Please, leave me alone
All the boys be lovin’ me
Girls be hating me
They will never stop
‘Cause they know I’m so hot, hot!”

Yoobin threw her head back and sighed. “Jin, are you done yet? I’m hungry!” Yoobin shouted, but there were no response coming from inside. Her eyes wandered to the building next to her house and froze. There was Junghyun, standing outside the red apartment building in a black hoody and khaki pants, leaning againt his balcony at the second floor and smiling at her.

Yoobin quickly turned around, closing her eyes and bit down her lower lip. She felt so embarrassed she could die, but so far she had never heard of death over embarrassment; which was very unfortunate for her at that very moment.

“Is that how you release stress? Does it work?” Junghyun asked with a grin. Which made him looked very handsome.

Yoobin let out an awkward chuckle. She tried to act unaffected but she was obviously embarrassed.

“How long have you been there?” She asked, trying to sound as neutral as she could.

“Well, since… ‘omona!’ That.”

“Huh,” Yoobin put up a forced smile. “Great.”

“How are you doing?” He asked casually.

“Hungry. I didn’t do anything but sleep the whole day.”

“I’m hungry too. I’ve been locked up in my room the whole day, chasing after my deadline. I’m about to head out for some midnight snacks. Wanna join?”

Well, why not?

-

“Here you go.” Junghyun handed her a fish cake on a stick. Yoobin accepted it and blew on it to cool it off a little bit. There were only two of them at the small food truck. Yoobin loved the privacy; it made the food all tastier no matter how common it was.

Yoobin took a bite and blew off some steam from . The fish cake was still hot in so she couldn’t chew on it yet. Junghyun laughed at her.

“God, this is so good. I haven’t had this for so long.” Yoobin muttered once the bite was cool enough for her taste buds to absorb the taste.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I was always either on diet or abroad. I usually keep a strict watch on what I eat. You know, veggies, those healthy stuffs.”

“Not today, obviously.”

“To hell with everything today. I bet the whole nation is having fun digging on my scandal right now. You’re an exception, maybe.” Yoobin chuckled.

“No, no, definitely not me.”Junghyun shook his head. “Once I’m set on my deadline, I’d never see the daylight until my job is done. That’s why I’m still single.”

“I could use a guy like that for a boyfriend. You wouldn’t know if a news about me was aired, and you’re busy on your own if I have to leave abroad.”

Junghyun chuckled as he stared ahead to nowhere while he ate. There was this tiny, mischievous glint in his eyes and the corner of his lips, but Yoobin couldn’t exactly tell what they were about.

Until she replayed the words she just said in her head. Yoobin looked away to wince without him seeing her.

“Well, that was, uh, practically speaking, of course.” She added, clearing .

He smiled a lopsided smile, looking very boyish. “Sure. Anything else you like in a guy?”

“Well. I’m not really picky about guys.  As long as we clicked together. A bit taller than me, I guess. Not too buff. Funny. Confident.”

“Woah, woah, that’ starting to become a long list.”

“Of course, all girls are like that!” Yoobin smirked.

“Ah, I guess it’s still a long way to go before I’m anything like your ideal guy.” Junghyun joked.

Yoobin let out a subtle, playful scoff. “Let’s see how far you could go then.” She simply concluded with a playful challenge. The two easily got dragged in their unexpectedly comfortable conversation. Junghyun talked about his ever demanding, deadline-chasing job with clients who refused to pay sometimes and Yoobin about the ups and down of being a celebrity. The conversation topic branched out from one point to another without awkward pauses. They began talking about their parents, quirky cousins and uncles and even pets. Yoobin found their conversation totally relaxing. It took her mind off her current scandal, and it gave her a sense of stable, secure commonness; just like another girl having a chill outing with a friend. It was not something that she felt often, being a top celebrity and all. It was her choice since the beginning anyways, but she couldn’t help but crave that feeling of being really common and dull sometimes.

They walked home together. Before they each got inside, they came to an agreement that from that moment on, they were officially neighbors; and friends. They even exchanged phone numbers so they could hang out together again whenever they got time. It was unbelievable but she actually made a new friend who was not related in her field. It was a new experience for her and it sort of excited her.

Someone was not too happy though.

“Where were you?” Jin asked. His lips were pouty and he had his fists propped on his waist.

“Oh, sorry. Just… A friend passed by and we decided to eat outside. I already told you before I left.”

“By shouting from outside and then ‘Poof!’ You’re gone. Look at the time now! It’s three in the morning! Do you know how worried I am?”

“Aww, did you?” Yoobin faked a laughter to cover up her guilt and gave his head a messy pat. “Sorry. I got caught up in our conversation. I bought you some food.”

Jin lit up as he accepted the take away without noticing that he had just let Yoobin safely dropped the topic. Yoobin headed towards her room, yawning and stretching, acting like she was so tired. Jin followed her from behind like a puppy. When Yoobin slipped under her blanket again, Jin sat on his mattress on the floor, looking very awake with his eyes sparkling and all.

“Which friend is it?” He suddenly asked, eager for some juicy stuffs.

“Well, someone I know.” Yoobin shrugged. She didn’t wish to talk about Junghyun too much. The less people knew about him, the better. It was always better that way to keep unwanted attention on the people she knew.

“Is it a guy or a girl?”

Yoobin chuckled. He sounded like a jealous kid who has a crush on her. Well, she guessed he wasn’t lying when he said he was a fan.

“A guy. Why? You’re not jealous are you?”

“Hah!” Jin scoffed. “Why would I? Is he Junghyun hyung?”

“Oh! How do you know?”

“I knew it! Since you guys live next to each other now. Well… He’s okay I guess. I mean, even from a guy’s perspective, he’s kinda hot.” Jin nodded, approving.

“Jin, drop your funny ideas. We barely knew each other, we’re just friends.”

“Admit it. You think he’s hot too, don’t you?”

Yoobin blushed but she turned to her side so Jin couldn’t see her face. “Shut up and go to sleep.” She threw a pillow that hit right on his face. Jin mumbled some complaints which she didn’t pay attention at all so he was left with no choice but to get in bed as well.

Well, yes, she admitted that he was very attractive but for the time being, she was content enough to have made a new friend. With everything that was going on right now, she didn’t even dare thinking about getting into a relationship.

She could only see nightmares if she did that.

-

A/N: Another short update. I feel like the story is lacking too much Jin so I'm going to feature him more in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this update. Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section :D