You and Youngbae are kissing passionately under a cherry blossom tree, baby pink petals swirling around the both of you as a continuous ringing plays in the background. 

You are rudely awakened from your sweet dream by your house phone ringing off the hook. The door to your mum's room bangs open and you can hear your mum shuffle into the living room to answer the call. She hangs up and a few seconds later it starts ringing again. 

'ARGHHHHH!' You groan in annoyance and look at your digital clock. Its 6 in the morning. Your first class is at 11 and your mum is off work today. 

Finally, there is silence and you are about to settle back into your fluffy bed when your bedroom door flies open. Your mum strodes in looking frazzled and throws a newspaper on your bed. 

You pick it up and gasp in shock. There is a picture of you and Taeyang hugging on the supposedly empty street from last Friday after the Inkigayo stage. Taeyang's face is facing the camera and although his features are blurred, he is still recognizable.

A smaller photo of you is at the bottom right-hand corner of the shot. It is taken from your Facebook profile picture and you like the photo because it highlights your Caucasian features nicely. 

'Mom!!!! What does it say!!??' You gesture to the article which is in Korean. 

'The headline says: Bigbang's Taeyang is not as innocent as he seems. The paragraph below basically summarises the fact that you were spotted with him last Friday hugging in the middle of the street, leading to speculations that you are his girlfriend.' Your mum looks at you expectantly. 'So? What are we going to do? I think the whole of Seoul knows who you are now since the aritcle has so kindly included your full name, school, age and family background.' Sarcasm drips from your mum's every word. 

'I don't knoooow!' You tug at your hair in frustration when your cellphone rings. 

ChaeRin

'OHMYGOSH WOMAN HAVE YOU READ THIS MORNING'S PAPER? JIYONG CALLED TO INFORM ME. APPARENTLY IT IS MADNESS OVER AT THE YG OFFICE. ARE YOU OKAY BABE?' ChaeRin hollers into the phone at rapid speed. 

'Uh...huh?' Your mind has yet to process the extent of your current predicament and you do not see why CL is behaving this way. 

'OKAY DO NOT LEAVE YOUR APARTMENT, CLOSE ALL THE CURTAINS. I'M COMING OVER FOR CRISIS CONTROL. I WILL KNOCK 3 TIMES ON YOUR DOOR WHEN I'M HERE. TOODLES.'

'Whut?' Before you can finish speaking, you are greeted with the dial tone. 

You see your mum peeking out of the window with a look of disbelief on her face. 

'What's wrong mum?' 

'Sweetheart, I think you'd better see this.' 

You walk over to the window and peep out to see swarms of reporters outside your house. 

Your jaw drops. 

'I think you'd better call that boyfriend of your's.' Your mum tells you. 

Speechless, you nod and dial YoungBae's number. But, his phone is turned off and you toss your's onto the bed in defeat. 

'What am I going to do?! I think his fangirls will murder me the minute I step out onto the streets !' You wonder aloud.

Your mum hugs you tight and heads out of your room. 'You'll be fine. I'm sure his company will clear it up somehow. I'm going to make breakfast.' 

'Make an extra portion for Chae! She's coming over!' You yell from your postion on the bed.

.

.

.

2 hours later, you and ChaeRin are munching on toast in front of the computer as both of you monitor the situation. 

'Oh look! Many netizens are commenting on how pretty you look!' ChaeRin points out, hoping to cheer you up. YoungBae is still not picking up any of your calls or replying your messages. You are dying of frustration wondering how he is going to respond to the speculations. Will he declare you as his girlfriend? Or will he deny it out right? 

'ChaeRin-ah. Can you ask Jiyong where is YoungBae?' You ask, having run out of other means to contact him. 

She shakes her head, sighing. 'He said he is going to be really busy handling this so I can't text or call him either.' 

Your shoulders slump in defeat and you grab the mouse, refreshing the page. 

'OMO!' ChaeRin points at the screen and translates. 'YG releases a press statement regarding Taeyang's alleged girlfriend.' 

You perk up as she clicks the link. 

ChaeRin reads the paragraph out for you. ' Regarding the news that was released earlier this morning, YG has released a press statement that they are just close friends. According to YG, this friend has recently moved to Korea from America and it is common for friends of opposite to hug in American culture so we hope that the media will not view this in any other way.' 

You know that Taeyang cannot tell them the truth about the both of you but you were half-hoping he would declare you as his girlfriend. The current relationship between you two is so ambiguous you yourself want to know exactly what the truth is as well. Are the two of you in a platonic relationship? Or not? 

'Helloooo? Anyone home?' ChaeRin's fingers snap in front of your face as you realised you spaced out. 'Isn't it great that they've cleared things up? Now you and Tae must be more careful when both of you go dating!' She waggles a finger in front of your face, grinning widely. 

You are about to reply her when your cellphone rings. 

It is YoungBae. 

Hurridly, you pick it up. 
 

'Hey, are you okay?' His manly voice asks through the phone. 

'Yeah. You?'

'I'm fine.'

There is an awkward pause between the both of you as you contemplate asking him what exactly is the relationship between the two of you.

'We're still good friends right?' He asks, those few words shattering the silence, and your heart. 

You bite your lip, struggling to quell the rising lump in your throat as you feel your eyes fill with tears. 

ChaeRin looks at you in shock as your expression changes. 

'Yeahokaygottogobye.' You hang up as the tears flow and you weep uncontrollably.

We're still good friends right?

That sentence resonates repeatedly in your mind as your chest aches and you struggle to breath through your sobs.

Is that all that was between us, Dong YoungBae? Friendship?