Chapter 70

“What?” he furrowed his brows in confusion.

For a moment, she had forgotten about Yongguk's presence in the room as she found herself staring back at him. “Nothing,” she managed to say before making her way past him, only to have him block the doorway with his muscular body. She sighed, staring blankly at him. “So, are you gonna let me out or what?”

“We need to talk,” he asserted, inching closer to her.

In turn, Annie backed away from him as he shut the door behind him. “What is there to talk about? Last time I checked, you made it clear that you didn't want to speak to me,” she huffed, trying her best to keep her voice steady but being in the presence of Yongguk was not making this easy for her. As a result, the room started to feel a little hot. As much as she loved her best friends, she made a mental note to murder them by the time this was over with.

Pushing past him, she attempted to turn the knob only to find it locked at the other end. Her eyes widened as panic started to set in. “What's going on?” Yongguk asked from behind.

“Oh no, this can't be happening...” she uttered in a panicky tone. “No! Come on! Why is luck not on my side today?!” she groaned in frustration.

From outside the door, she could hear shuffling in the background. “You got the key?” Daehyun's voice rang out.

“Right here,” Youngjae's voice replied followed by the sound of a set of keys jingling.

Frantically, Annie began to bang on the door. “You two idiots better open this door right now!” she hissed. “You guys are dead meat when I see you!”

“What is going on out there?” Yongguk asked, reaching over to turn the knob.

“THOSE IDIOTS HAVE LOCKED US IN HERE AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!” Annie hissed, glaring darkly at Yongguk.

Yongguk's eyes widened, raising his hands in defeat. “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!” he exclaimed as he placed them on her shoulders. “Calm down!”

She immediately rebuffed his attempts to touch her. “DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!” she hyperventilated. “WE'RE LOCKED! IN A CRAMPED ROOM FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN?!” She panted. “This is not how I imagined my last moments here on earth...”

He grabbed her shoulder again, looking deep into her eyes. “Annie, it's gonna be okay,” he assured her trying to keep her calm. “Just breathe. We're not gonna be stuck. I'll get us out of here. I promise, okay? So breathe. Could you do that for me?”

Looking back up at him, she nodded obediently doing exactly as she was told breathing with him. Much to her relief, Yongguk's presence made her feel more at ease but she knew she still had to keep her pride in check. She was avoiding him for a reason but looking at him alone, made her forget why she'd been upset with him in the first place.

“Hyung, I'm not sure if this is a good idea,” Jongup said from behind. “Annie noona sounds really pissed.”

“Jongup,” Daehyun said, turning to the young man. “Think of it this way, this is for Annie noona's own good as well as Yongguk hyung's. We're trying to help them out.”

“I'm not sure if it's working,” Zelo remarked. “I don't hear anything. Are you sure it's working, hyung?”

“Patience, Zelo,” Daehyun advised him. “They should be talking this out, right about now.” Annie imagined him looking down at his watch glancing at the door occasionally as if he was waiting for it to open. However, it was impossible since she already knew it was his idea to set this up to begin with. Not without the help of the other three. She imagined Youngjae going along for the sake of friendship but she also imagined him being the voice or reason for intervening with Daehyun's plan.

“Dae, if you don't open this door, I will really kill you!” Annie exclaimed, banging her fist on the door startling him slightly. “I knew I should have planted those laxatives in that cheesecake of yours!”

He gulped in fear. Eventually, that fear morphed into anger. “YOU WHAT?!” he cried out, seemingly outraged. “LAXATIVES?!”

Youngjae sighed, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder. “Dae, I'd hate to be that kind of friend but I told you so.”

Annie soon perked up, prying Yongguk's hands away from her, as soon as she heard Youngjae's voice from outside. “Youngjae,” she said pleadingly. “Help me, please!” From the looks of it, the way she was pleading with him made it seem like Youngjae was her only hope for survival much to their amusement.

Before Youngjae could respond, Daehyun cut him off. “Not until you talk to Yongguk hyung!” he demanded.

“Absolutely not!” Annie countered. “The last time I checked, he specifically told me not to speak to him anymore so if anything, I'm doing him a favor.”

“I can hear you, you know,” the guy in speaking chimed in. “And last time I checked, I don't think I ever recall myself saying that.”

“Oh really? Then, what about those times I called you?” she stopped knocking then turned her body to face him. “Do you have any idea how stupid and pathetic I looked? I turned into one of those clingy pathetic girls. The last type of person I wanted to be. I knew I was better than that, Yongguk.” She scoffed. “Personal space, my . I just wish there was an on/off button for feelings. That way, I wouldn't have to feel anything.” She curled her fists angrily.

“Annie,” Yongguk firmly stated. “It's not like that at all. I was--”

“Excuses, excuses,” she cut him off, rolling his eyes. “You men are all the same. If you cared enough you would put in time and effort to talk to us.”

“I think they're finally talking,” Daehyun whispered loudly for the other guys to hear.

“No , Sherlock,” Youngjae snidely remarked.

Annie and Yongguk chose to ignore the commotion outside. “You made me feel really stupid, Yongguk,” she breathed out, blinking back her own tears.

“How'd you think I felt all this time?” he countered back. “You and my best friend keeping secrets from me. Last time I checked, we were together and if I didn't know any better, we shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other.”

Annie laughed wryly. “You ought to know that what you have with Himchan is completely different from what he has with me,” she countered back. “Do you think it's easy for him to confide in you over something as huge as his current problem at the moment? I would assume you, of all people, would understand given the fact that you are his best friend!”

“But he's in love with you, Annie,” he said softly.

“Yes, I know about his unwavering feelings for me,” her voice shook. “But I don't feel that way about him, Yongguk. I chose you. You need to know that I'll always have love for Himchan but I can never be in love with him and you should know that because I won't repeat it again.”

He stood still for a moment before speaking up again. “Annie,” he exhaled, “I'm really sorry for being such a jerk... I--”

She scoffed, turning away from him. “Great,” she muttered. “So now you feel like .”

He turned away from her, choosing instead to focus on the equipment in the room with them. “I do feel like ,” he mumbled. “I've been feeling like ever since that night. My pride got the better of me and I should have just manned up and spoke to you like any normal person would. I was an idiot.”

“Oh you think?” she snidely remarked, crossing her arms over her chest. Yongguk had observed that Annie tended to cross her arms as a sort of defense mechanism. “You got anything else to say?”

Meanwhile, outside the room, Zelo and Jongup were pressing their ears against the door in the hopes of eavesdropping, that way, they would be able to report to Daehyun and Youngjae who were standing nearby. Youngjae was busy playing a game on his iPad while Daehyun was busy eating from a bag of chips he had bought from the vending machines in the lunchroom. “It would have been nice to be eating the food she brought for us,” he muttered.

“You should have thought of that before you decided to lock her in the room with hyung,” Youngjae remarked, without tearing his eyes away from his tablet.

Daehyun chose to ignore Youngjae. Soon, he walked right on over to the two younger boys, who both turned their heads to face him once they realized his figure towering over them. “What's going on in there?” he asked softly, his voice almost in a whisper.

“I think noona is crying,” Jongup told him before pressing his ears back against the door.

“They've stopped talking, I think,” said Zelo, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

Daehyun groaned in annoyance. “Ugh! This is gonna take forever!” he whined.

“I mean you could, you know, let them out,” Youngjae remarked sneeringly.

“No! Annie's crying, Jae!” Daehyun exclaimed defiantly. “If she's crying then that means they're talking about their problems. Letting out those emotions they've been bottling up! Well in Annie's case, she's the first to crack...”

Groaning in frustration, Youngjae eventually set his iPad aside before making his way to them. “Congratulations, Daehyun, you have won the award for the most lousy friend of the year!” he snapped.

“What?!” Daehyun's eyes widened. “I'm just trying to help them out!”

Youngjae laughed bitterly before glaring back at Daehyun with a dark glint in his eyes. “HELP THEM OUT?! YOU'RE MAKING IT WORST!!!!!!” he raised his voice an octave higher. “LOCKING THEM UP IN THE ROOM?! THAT'S HELPFUL ALL RIGHT! VERY HELPFUL!”

“WELL, AT LEAST I'M DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!” Daehyun hissed as he got right in Youngjae's face. Both best friends clearly seemed to ignore the presence of Jongup and Zelo, both of whom immediately perked up once Youngjae intervened.

“Uh-oh,” Zelo uttered as he was watching the scene unfold before him. “This isn't good.”

“Hyungs are a lot scarier when they're mad...” remarked Jongup, clearly too stunned to move at that moment.

“No kidding,” replied Zelo.

Before an all out brawl could ensue in the hallway, a female voice interrupted them. “What do you guys think you're doing?”

The four guys froze. Jongup and Zelo looked straight ahead to find a very attractive woman with long blond wavy locks, wearing a trucker hat and a white tank top which showed off her tattoos covering her arms, sternly staring back at them, particularly at Daehyun and Youngjae, who soon turned their heads to face her. The two best friends immediately backed away from tearing each other apart as they straightened up their clothing, chuckling nervously. “Natasha noona,” Youngjae spoke up, the surprise was evident in his tone. “What a surprise!”

“Yeah,” Daehyun chimed in, scratching the back of his head nervously. “We didn't expect to see you here.”

“You didn't answer my question,” she said drawing closer to them.

Jongup and Zelo gaped at the three of them in confusion. Did they know each other? It sure appeared that way since they did hear Youngjae refer to her as noona. Soon, she turned to face them. “Well?” she stared back at them expectantly. “What's going on out here?”

“Uh, nothing,” Daehyun said, clearing his throat giving Zelo and Jongup a warning look to ensure they'd keep their mouths shut. “Right, Jae?”

“Of course!” Youngjae squeaked.

Natasha drew closer to them before sniffing loudly. “Something stinks,” she muttered sneeringly before drawing closer to the younger boys. “Well, well, well, who do we have here? I've never seen you two before... What are your names?”

“J-jongup,” said the innocent dancer, standing up straight like a soldier facing his drill sergeant.

“Z-zelo,” said the younger one, his tall height towering over her. Even a giant like him was intimidated in the presence of Natasha, she seemed to be aware of the effect she had on these guys and it was amusing to no end.

She smirked. “Well, my brother sure knows how to pick them, doesn't he?” she remarked. “Now you two, Jongup. Zelo, are you guys gonna tell me what's going on here? If I didn't know any better, you two,” she pointed to Daehyun and Youngjae, “Were about to rip each other's heads off in front of the recording room. And I sense something's missing. Well, more like someone. Care to tell me why you guys are outside when you all should be inside working?”

Daehyun chuckled nervously, speaking up first. “Well, here's the thing...”

“We're not finished,” he said gripping her elbow to prevent her from making her way to the door.

She shook her arm off, looking back at him coldly. “I think we've already covered enough ground work, don't you think?”

“I've already apologized,” he pointed out defiantly. “What more do you want?”

“Did you forget about those countless times I apologized to you?!” she countered back, angry tears threatening to fall down any second. Annie tried her best to blink them away. “You can't expect me to easily forgive you for apologizing when you were the one who was ignoring all those times I wanted to apologize!” She huffed.

“Yes, I remembered!” he exclaimed, raising his voice an octave higher than usual. Much to their relief the walls were sound proof, otherwise the whole floor could have heard the commotion going on inside with the exception of the four guys standing outside the door at that moment. “And I know we have a lot more ground work to cover but we're not gonna accomplish anything if you just stop being so hard-headed for like five minutes!”

Annie scoffed. “Oh right, and you're not being hard-headed for all those times you ignored me?” When he did not respond, she proceeded to make her way to the door in a last ditch effort to knock frantically in the hopes of someone coming to her rescue.

“Annie,” he spoke up before she could bang her fist against the door. She turned around to face him. “I'm really, really sorry...” He said moving closer to her. Gulping, she pushed herself against the door for support.

“Yongguk,” she breathed out. This scene was all too familiar to her. It was like that scene in the morning all over again, only this time they were locked together in the room with no way out. She could feel him breathing above her head. “What are you doing?” she scrunched her brows together. Instinctively, she placed her hands against his chest rebuffing his attempts to move any closer but clearly Yongguk was too strong for her.

He reached up to grab her wrists, moving them away from his as he leaned closer to her. “This,” he finally said before pressing his lips against hers.

Annie squirmed under his grasp until eventually giving in, savoring the moment a little. Oh how she longed to be near him. Realizing what was going on, she immediately opened her eyes then as a last ditch effort she kneed him in the groin.

Yongguk grunted in pain, glaring back at her with the darkest expression. “What the hell was that for?!” he exclaimed, outraged.

“What the hell was that for?!” she countered back, referring to their unexpected lip-lock.

“I was showing you how I feel!” he snapped, doubling over in pain.

Annie scoffed. “Gosh, you have no shame,” she muttered before turning back around to turn the knob. It was still locked. “You idiots better open this door right now!” she demanded. “You guys are all dead meat when I get out of here!”

Yongguk sighed, standing up as he limped his way over to the door. In one swift motion, he reached over Annie and pulled the latch above the door frame before turning the knob to open the door. He gave her a half smirk in return, temporarily forgetting the pain in his pelvic region. She had forgotten how hot he was whenever he mocked her. She would have loved to kick him again but then had to realize that there were multiple pairs of eyes staring back at them and that once was enough.

Annie's jaw dropped. “H-how did you do that?” she stuttered, pointing to the door staring back at him.

He shrugged. “I've locked myself in this room numerous times before,” he answered matter-of-factly.

“Well, why didn't you tell me sooner?!” she asked petulantly.

He shrugged once again. “We needed to talk,” he answered casually.

“Well, we've already talked,” she pointed out before turning to leave. “Good thing you got the door to open. That room was getting congested anyways,” she sneered, looking over her shoulder.

In turn, he gripped her elbow. “We're still not finished,” he firmly said.

“See what I mean?” Daehyun hissed to Youngjae. “I told you they weren't finished.”

Youngjae groaned in annoyance. “Your plan ,” he remarked. “How the hell did he get the door to open anyways? I thought you locked it.”

“I did lock it!” Daehyun huffed defiantly.

“You mean to tell me that you locked them in there?!” Natasha exclaimed incredulously. “Oh boy,” she rolled her eyes before making her presence known to Yongguk and Annie.

The couple soon turned to face her. Their eyes widened. “Noona...” Yongguk uttered first. “W-what are you doing here?” So that was who the special guy was, Annie pieced the puzzle together as she stared at Natasha conversing with Yongguk.

She glanced around the room. “I came to admire that couch,” she said, pointing to the leather couch inside the recording room before turning back to him then chuckled. “I'm just kidding... I just came by to visit my favorite little brother.” She pulled him in for a hug before shifting her attention to Annie. “Annie,” she grinned. “We meet again!”

Annie chuckled nervously before waving back at her. “Hello, Natasha,” she greeted her sheepishly. “Yes, we do meet again. Nice to see you again.”

“Right back at you,” she said giving Annie a wink.

The other guys stared at them in confusion. “So you guys know each other?” Yongguk, Daehyun, and Youngjae asked at the same time.

Annie and Natasha glanced at the guys and nodded. “Well kind of,” Annie began. “We kind of met on the way up here. Right, Natasha?”

“That's right,” she nodded. “Poor girl looked like she needed help. It was the least I can do.”

“Right,” Annie chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I owe you for that. Thanks again, Natasha.”

“You know, for some reason I knew your name sounded familiar,” Natasha mused, placing a hand on her chin walking over to Annie. “Annie... The girl that -dialed my little brother. Am I correct?”

Annie felt the color drain from her face before turning a deep shade of red. In the background, she could hear her friends snickering. “-dialing? Oh man, that is so like you, Annie,” Daehyun snickered.

“Oh my gosh! They know?!” Annie exclaimed, glaring at Yongguk.

He chuckled nervously. “I may have talked to my brother,” he shrugged.

Annie groaned, rubbing her temples shaking her head. “Luck is clearly not on my side today,” she grumbled.

“Hey relax, Annie,” Natasha said, placing an arm over the young girl's shoulder. “There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean I'm just so happy my baby brother has met an honest girl for once. I knew I liked you from the get-go. Now let's all go grab dinner while I'm still here, yeah?” She announced, looking around at the other guys expectantly.

“Sounds great!” Yongguk immediately spoke up. “What do you guys say?”

The four guys stood still for a long moment before replying at once. “Yeah, sounds good,” they murmured.

Annie shot him a look. He shrugged in return. She knew better than to decline the invitation since Natasha already liked her, she didn't want to make a bad impression at the same time.

“We'll meet you there,” Daehyun informed Yongguk.

“Okay, see you then,” he turned to walk ahead as he followed his sister.

Reluctantly, Annie stuck by her friends which prompted Daehyun and Youngjae to use their combined strength to push her ahead. “What the hell do you guys think you're doing?!” she hissed.

“Hyung's waiting for you,” Youngjae pointed out matter-of-factly.

“I'm riding with you guys,” she insisted.

“No! Absolutely not!” Daehyun expressed through gritted teeth. “I'm NOT riding in the car with you! Not after you threatened me with those laxatives!”

“That was a long time ago!” she argued back. “Luckily, your precious hyung talked me out of it. Thinking about it now, after this little stunt you idiots pulled, it doesn't sound like a bad idea.” She smirked menacingly.

“Annie!” Daehyun and Youngjae exclaimed at once.

She shrugged innocently. “So who gets to ride shotgun?” she inquired, ignoring their glares.

“Annie,” a deep voice rang out from behind. It was Yongguk, waiting for her. “Are you coming or what?”

“I'm riding with my friends,” she replied, turning to her friends with a pleading look.

“Sorry, Annie,” Daehyun said smirking. “But there's no room in my car. I think it's better if you ride with Yongguk hyung. Right, Jae?” he elbowed his best friend.

“Right,” Youngjae nodded obediently, clearing his throat.

Annie gaped her best friend, clearly disappointed in the both of them. Particularly Youngjae, who was clearly known to save her from certain situations. Guess he was not on her side tonight, she realized. Those traitors! She curled her fist angrily, trying her best to keep her emotions under control. Her best friends along with Zelo and Jongup took notice right away, gulping in fear.

“Well?” Yongguk's voice woke her from her reverie. She turned to face him. He looked at his watch and pointed to it. “My sister's waiting, Annie.”

Sighing in defeat, she eventually relented. “Right,” she finally said, slumping as she proceeded to follow him. “Guess I'm riding with you guys...”

As the four guys watched Annie and Yongguk leave, Youngjae sighed. “You're right, Dae,” he said. “I guess they do need this.”

“See? I told you so!” Daehyun exclaimed triumphantly. “Good job, boys!” he gave the younger guys a high-five. “Now let's get the show on the road! I don't know about you guys but I'm hungry.”

“You're always hungry,” Youngjae muttered, shaking his head.

“This is going to be an interesting dinner,” Zelo muttered, following close behind.

“Tell me about it,” Jongup nodded in agreement.

A/N: Hello again! Here's another update! I hope you like the chapter! I'll try to update again soon okay? I won't make you wait too long! I feel like I should take a break for today since I finally finished this chapter and I'm all caught up with "Hart of Dixie"!!! Woot woot!!!!! If "Hart of Dixie" airs in your country, please watch it!!!!!!!!!!! I love that show!!!!!!!!!!!! I just wrapped season 2 in a span of a few days and I need to get started on season 3! The season finale made me fangirl HARD!!!!!!! Why?! Well Rachel Bilson's character had 3 hot guys vying for her attention... Talk about a lucky day. And best of all, Gloriana made an appearance towards the end!!!!!! You guys should all listen to Gloriana! They sang one of my favorite songs "Can't Shake You" lol. You guys should all listen to it if you love country like yours truly! :D Anyways, happy reading! ^^

P.S. Don't mind the minor errors. XD