A month after her break up with Chunji, JiHye hung out with her friends Gayoon and Naeun even more than she used to. One of the few reasons was that Chunji still kept following her around school and on her way home too. He was close to being a stalker and kept pleading for her to talk to him. Of course, he was harmless and CAP tried to keep him under control and only her friends knew about this.

That weekend JiHye was hanging out at Naeun’s house with Gayoon, Ricky and Naeun’s boyfriend, Chanyeol. She felt slightly out of place with the couples surrounding her acting all sweet and gushy.

            “will you stop it, oppa? There are people watching.” Naeun said pushing Chanyeol’s hands away since the latter had been tickling her.

By people she meant JiHye as the other couple was too preoccupied cuddling in the couch. When they heard Naeun though, both straightened up in their seats.

            “fine.” Chanyeol muttered grumpily then looked at JiHye. “so how’s that good-for-nothing ex of yours?”

Ricky reacted before JiHye could answer.

            “that good-for-nothing ex you’re talking about is my friend.” He glared.

            “and that friend of yours cheated on my friend.” Chanyeol replied in almost a growl and with his already deep voice sounded even more menacing. “and don’t you talk to me like that, I’m your hyung.”

            “boys boys, time out.” Naeun yelled raised both of her hands. “we’re here to hang out not to start gang wars.” She said rolling her eyes.

            “and you!” Gayoon jabbed her finger on Ricky’s chest. “you know better than to defend Chunji after he cheated on JiHye. And I still haven’t forgiven you for not telling me about it even if you knew he was cheating.” She glared.

Ricky looked panic-stricken and hugged his girlfriend around her waist.

            “I’m sorry, love, but Chunji’s also my friend even if I do not agree with some of his decisions. And besides, JiHye’s already forgiven me, right?” he looked at JiHye who had and amused look on her face and gave her a pleading look.

            “yeah I have, Gayoon.” She smiled, but Gayoon just shook her head.

            “no, unlike JiHye I am not that forgiving.” She said sticking her tongue out but she did look more amused.

            “oh come on!”

The others laughed and at that moment Chanyeol’s phone rang. He reached his phone out from his back pocket and answered it.

            “yeoboseyo? Oh Suho hyung. ne, I’m at Naeun’s” his brows suddenly shot upwards. All eyes now looked curiously at him.

A few seconds later he hung up then tossed his phone on the table.

            “something wrong?” Naeun asked.            Chanyeol shrugged and sat back down on the couch slinging and arm around his girlfriend and pulled her slightly to him.           

            “is it ok for the boys to come?” he whispered.

            “you mean Suho oppa and the rest?” Gayoon asked, Chanyeol’s voice echoes so it was really useless for him to whisper.

            “yeah, they just finished practice and wanted to hang out.” he replied but looked at Naeun for permission.

            “sure, the more the merrier.” She smiled.

JiHye looked relieved now that she wouldn’t be surrounded by couples anymore. She was also happy that she would see Sehun and Kyungsoo again.

Somehow Ricky looked uncomfortable. He hasn’t met any of Chanyeol’s friends and he had even only seen Chanyeol about 4 times since they first met.

            “should I leave?” he whispered to Gayoon.

            “of course not. Chanyeol oppa’s friends are nice, it would be great for you to meet them.”

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Naeun’s stood up to open the door. The rumble of sounds from the doorway indicated that the whole gang was present.

            “NAEUNNIE!!!” Chanyeol’s bestfriend, Baekhyun yelled excitedly and hugged Naeun as he twirled her around the room.

            “yah yah! Let go of my girlfriend before she gets dizzy.” Chanyeol stepped in between them and yanked Baekhyun away.

            “party pooper.” The latter muttered.

            “NOONA!!!” before JiHye could turn to look she was tackled down on the couch but she didn’t need to look at the face to know who that person was.

            “Sehun-ah, I can’t breathe! And don’t call me noona when we’re the same age!” she squirmed as Sehun flattened her on the couch.

            “I missed you, noona!” he said cuddling even tighter and completely ignoring what she had just said. JiHye couldn’t help but laugh as she squirmed away from his tight grip.

            “come on, Sehun save some JiHye for the rest of us.” a voice said and JiHye felt Sehun’s weight got lifted off of her before she was met by a pair of huge brown eyes.

            “Kyungsoo oppa!” she squealed and hugged him. Kyungsoo gave her a wide smile before hugging him back. “I missed you!”

            “I missed you, too.” He said patting her head when they pulled back.

            “yah, hyung, how about I get my hug now?” said a chuckling voice from behind Kyungsoo.

JiHye recognized the voice and she felt herself blush a little. She thanked Sehun for cutting her air supply earlier so she could blame the redness of her face due to the lack of oxygen.

Kyungsoo moved away and walked to greet Gayoon. Kai’s tall figure then walked forward towards JiHye and opened his arms for her, his mouth breaking into a wide grin. She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

            “oh come on, Sehun and hyung gets a hug and I get that expression?” he whined pointing at JiHye’s raised brow.

She laughed and moved forward to give Kai his hug. As soon as she got within distance Kai immediately pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She felt herself get slightly winded as her chest slammed into Kai’s but she just wrapped her arms around his waist for the hug.

            “you should be careful when you oblige to people who asks you to hug them.” He said lightly chuckling.

“and why is that?” she smiled riding on his joke. But she was surprised when she felt Kai pressing his mouth so close to her that she could practically feel his breath and mouth touching her ear.

She was about to pull away when Kai’s arms tugged her back.

            “because they may not ever want to let you go.” His breath gave JiHye goosebumps and she immediately pulled back and sat down on her seat. She was saved when Sehun came running back towards her and sat down on the couch.

Kai sat down on the other couch beside the one JiHye sat at.

            “oh by the way oppas, this is my boyfriend, Ricky. Ricky these are Chanyeol oppa’s friends. Suho, Baehyun, Kyungsoo, Sehun and Kai.”

They greeted each other but Ricky’s eyes lingered on Kai’s for a few seconds longer.

So this was the guy who Gayoon had mentioned that likes JiHye. He thought. He felt himself holding back a laugh when he saw whom his hyung was up against.

            “so you’re the friend of that guy who cheated on our JiHye.” Kyungsoo said blankly.  His round eyes stared at Ricky slightly unnerving him.

Ricky gulped when he saw all 6 pairs of male eyes glaring at him, especially Kai’s who was obviously looking livid.

            “guys, no need to be hostile, it was his friend who cheated not him.” JiHye said rescuing Ricky who was close to cowering behind Gayoon.

Sehun stared at JiHye with a childish expression on his face.

            “but still he didn’t stop him.” He pouted.

            “yeah, if Kai was your boyfriend and he cheated on you we would’ve hung him upside down on a flag pole with only his under—OOF!” Chanyeol started to say but a throw pillow immediately hit him squarely in the face. He glared at Kai who was acting innocent.

It wasn’t really a secret to everyone that Kai has a huge crush on JiHye and he didn’t try to hide it. He caught JiHye’s eyes and smirked making JiHye blush and look away.

            “the past is past and I think he won’t be doing anything with my brother around.” JiHye grinned remembering the look on Chunji’s face when he came to their house the next day only to be met by Siwon.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol scoffed.

            “you’re just really too nice for your own good, JiHye.” Baekhyun commented shaking his head.

            “there’s something she’s actually not telling you, oppa.” Gayoon said in a teasing tone looking at Baekhyun.

            “what is it?” Suho asked sitting on the armrest on JiHye’s right.

            “Chunji is actually still trying to win her back.”

            “BWOH?!” the yell of the boys except Ricky made JiHye shrink on where she was sitting. Suho looked down at her with a disapproving expression on his face.

            “so that joke Naeun made about Chunji stalking you wasn’t really a joke, was it?” Chanyeol glared at her accusingly then his eyes glared down on his girlfriend who cowered under his intense gaze.

Kai, on the other hand, had both his hands clenched into tight fists. He was furious that after all Chunji had done to JiHye he still had the guts to try and win her back and stalk her around. His blood boiled and he desperately wanted to punch the pretty boy’s face until he begged.

            “he’s not stalking, he just wanted to know she’s safe when she goes home.” Ricky said in his friend’s defense. All the other boys glared at him.

            “noona, want me to be your bodyguard?” Sehun offered grabbing JiHye’s hand.

            “Sehun-ah, you can’t even fight to save your own so what makes you think you’re fit to be a bodyguard?” Kyungsoo said amusedly.

            “well, I can ask that new student in my class, Tao to do some wushu movies on that guy.”

Kyungsoo shook his head at the maknae.

            “you are hopeless, Sehun-ah.” Suho patted Sehun’s head with a fatherly laugh.

At that moment JiHye’s phone started vibrating on the table. Gayoon who was the nearest grabbed it before JiHye could. She took one look at the screen and gave a disgusting expression.

            “give it here, Gayoon.” She held out a hand and Gayoon grudgingly handed it to her.

She clicked the green icon and put the phone to her ear.

            “Yeoboseyo?”

Sehun yanked JiHye’s hand down and pressed loudspeaker much to JiHye’s annoyance but the rest of the gang had already leaned in to listen on the conversation.

            “hey, Ji.” ChunJi’s voice rang cheerily from the other end. JiHye scrunched up her nose from her old nickname by her ex.

            “what do you want, oppa?”

            “still mad I see, anyway I called to ask you something.” They heard him exhale and paused. “next weekend is you know, the prom and I was wondering if you could go with me?”

Ricky slapped a hand to his face. He never liked his friend’s confidence and after what he did he himself wanted to strangle him after expecting for a yes from JiHye. He snuck a glance at Kai who was seething and was obviously turning red in anger.

            “oppa, we’re no longer together and I don’t think it’s a good idea if we go to the prom together.”

            “we could go as friends, JiHye-ah, there’s nothing wrong with that right?”  he replied unfazed by the initial rejection.

But Kai had had enough, he snatched JiHye’s phone and turned the speaker off before putting it by his ear.

            “sorry, but JiHye already agreed to go with me.” then he hung up. JiHye’s mouth dropped to the floor but the rest of his friends were high-fiving and congratulating him.

            “what did you just do!?” JiHye looked horrified and hurriedly snatched her phone back from Kai.

He leaned in closer to her and she sat back.

            “I believe I just told him that I’ll be taking you to your prom.” He grinned confidently.

            “are you forgetting you don’t go to our school, you won’t be allowed in.”

Naeun straightened up and raised a finger.

            “as a member of the student council, JiHye, it will be my duty to inform you that outsiders ARE allowed in as long as they have been invited by a student as a date or partner.” She said as a matter-of-factly.

            “but I didn’t invite him, he invited himself.”

            “I think it’s a good idea if he came.” They all turned to Ricky who just spoke.

            “what are you talking about?” she asked flabbergasted.

He raised an eyebrow at JiHye.

            “JiHye-ah, Chunji may be my friend but you are too and I still feel really about what he did.” She said and glanced at Kai. “and besides, by the looks of it I think he’d treat you better than how Chunji did AND you’ll be sure to have his fed to the tigers by his friends if he did cheat on you.”

            “you’re talking like we’re actually dating, Ricky. Reality check, we’re just friends.”

            “ouch, JiHye. What a way to hurt a man’s feelings.” Kai said sounding sarcastic but in reality he felt that his heart fell from a great height and suddenly got stepped on my hundreds of people.

            “sorry, Kai, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Kai shrugged and leaned back on the couch.

            “even if you two won’t go together, we will still get to look after you.” Kyungsoo’s smile widened into a grin.

            “what are you talking about?” Gayoon asked.

            “remember that dance contest we won last month? Well because of that your school actually invited us to perform for the prom and we already said yes.” Suho smiled and the ones from TOP High stared at the other boys.

WHACK!

            “ouch! That hurt!!!” Changyeol yelled after Naeun just slapped his arm hard.

            “why didn’t you tell me?!”

            “that’s because we wanted to surprise you guys. We wanted to see your faces when you realize we’re on stage.” He said surely suppressing a ‘duh’ at the end of his sentence.

            “well, I guess we’ll see you at the prom?” Kai gave JiHye his signature smirk and she suddenly felt utterly nervous.

 

The whole week passed stressfully for JiHye. For one thing, Chunji kept trying to talk to her even more persistently than before. He demanded to know who the guy on the phone was, why they were together and if they were dating. Of course she denied the whole dating questions but she rebutted the rest with answers like he didn’t have any right to know, as they were no longer dating.

CAP, Niel and Changjo all graciously tried to keep Chunji away while L.Joe tried to keep her company and drag her away when his senses tells him that his hyung was near.

Prom night finally arrived; the girls decided they would all go together to school much to Ricky’s protest but in the end he caved in.

            “stop twitching, JiHye, you look really pretty.” Yoona said fixing JiHye’s hair into nice loose curls and tied it to a ponytail then clipped a butterfly ornament on top.

            “if only mum and dad were here to see you.” Siwon faked a sob leaning on her doorway.

            “stop it, oppa.” JiHye frowned making her brother laugh.

            “you better make sure that ex of your won’t even get near you or else I’ll dismember him.”

JiHye rolled her eyes.

            “yes, oppa, I didn’t forget, you’ve told me countless times already.” She replied as Yoona completed the finishing touches to her makeup.

            “now, stand up and give me and you brother a little twirl.” Yoona bounced excitedly and stood beside her boyfriend who put an arm around her shoulder.

JiHye did as she was told her one-shoulder strap, white dress twirled as she turned. The red ribbon along her waist and the rose petals along the dress were just perfect.

          

            “c’mere, kiddo, give your big brother a hug!” Siwon opened his arms wide and engulfed his sister in a bear hug. “my baby has finally turned into a lady.”

            “careful with her makeup, oppa.” Yoona said amusedly before Siwon let JiHye go.

Footsteps form outside indicated her friends have arrived and almost at once Gayoon and Naeun appeared in the doorway in their prom dresses. Naeun was wearing a wine red, tube dress with slight layers and a ribbon along the waistline

while Gayoon opted for a plum colored tube dress, with a flowy, fairy-like type of skirt.

         

            “you two didn’t tell me you’ll wear dark colors, now I’ll stand out beside you two. JiHye moaned.

The other two just grinned at her, which was exactly their plan for the night, to make JiHye stand out.

            “oh shush, no use crying over it, now let’s go, Ricky’s been calling me nonstop for 30 minutes already, the prom’s about to start.” Gayoon grabbed JiHye who caught her purse from Yoona. Her two friends called out hurried goodbyes before they dashed out of the house and into Naeun’s mother’s car.

There were already a lot of students piling towards the gym and Ricky waited for Gayoon at the parking lot and walked with the girls towards the entrance where a few girls held up the crowd.

            “is there anything wrong? Why aren’t they going in?” Naeun asked curiously and craned her neck.

            “what do you think?” Ricky chuckled. “they’re interested in fresh meat.”

JiHye looked at Ricky strangely and when her gaze went back to the crowd her question was finally answered. Kai and Chanyeol were outside the door waiting for their dates while a couple of girls tried to engage them in small talks but were ignored. Chanyeol perked up when he saw his girlfriend approach and met her halfway kissing her cheek. Kai walked dashingly towards JiHye. Both boys looked amazingly princely. Chanyeol kept it simple; a tux with a white dress shirt and black tie while Kai opted for no tie at all.

            “you guys look great.” JiHye complimented.

            “not as good as you look tonight, JiHye. Now you look like a princess, seems like I will have quite a few rivals for your attention.” He grinned and offered his arm.

            “stop being cheesy.” She muttered and silently thanked that the dark lighting made it possible for her to hide her blush.

She accepted Kai’s arm and she and the other started walking inside passing the envious gazes from the other girls.

The party was already in full boom and there were quite a lot of students dancing in the middle of the room.

            “Noona!” JiHye saw Sehun untangle himself from a few girls asking him to dance and ran towards the newcomers. “thank goodness you’re finally here! Get those girls away from me!”

            “I’m afraid she can’t do that, Sehun.” Kai said putting an arm around JiHye’s shoulders.

            “why not?” the maknae frowned.

            “because she’s all mine tonight.” He smirked making JiHye choke.

            “what are you talking about?” she said looking aghast.

Kai didn’t reply and just kept grinning.

            “JiHye.” She turned around and saw Chunji approaching her with CAP and L.Joe. Kai, Chanyeol and Sehun all frowned. Kai inconspicuously moved his hand to JiHye’s waist and slowly pulled her towards him.

            “hey guys!” Ricky greeted cheerily.

            “care to introduce us to your friends, JiHye?” L.Joe said smiling kindly at her.

            “ah yeah, sure.” she sounded flustered and gestured towards her friends. “guys, they are CAP, L.Joe and Chunji.” She the gestured towards her other friends, “and these are our friends from SM High, you’ve met Chanyeol oppa before, these are Sehun and Kai, oppa’s friends.”

Chunji’s eyes went down towards Kai’s hand around JiHye’s waist and raised a smug brow.

            “and who are you to JiHye exactly?” he asked. Kai who was obviously taller and leaner returned the look and added a confident grin.

            “her date.”

Chunji’s hands turned to fists recognizing his voice from the phone but before he could do anything Suho came running towards them with Kyungsoo and Baekhyun”

            “we’re up now, boys, let’s go.” He said dragging Sehun with him.

Chanyeol kissed Naeun before leaving towards the stage. Kai leaned down to JiHye’s ear.

            “only look at me, ok?” he whispered and stole a kiss on her cheek. JiHye spun around but Kai had already gone. Her hand unconsciously went up to touch the spot where Kai kissed her.

            “ohhh…someone’s got a new boyfriend.” L.Joe teased.

            “he’s not my boyfriend.” She said glaring at him.

            “not YET!” Naeun and Gayoon said in unison.

Chunji was so angry he couldn’t even get a word out. CAP only put a hand on his shoulder.

            “better give up now, Chunji-ah, you’ve lost your chance.”

Chunji shrugged off CAP’s hand and stared at the stage when the lights finally dimmed and spotlights lit the stage.

The group first danced to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal then to their very own song MAMA that they revealed to be composed by Baekhyun and Kyungsoo.

All throughout the performance people couldn’t stop staring at Kai and get awed by his fluid dance moves. He impressed everyone by his skills and left the audiences amazed and the girls just couldn’t stop squealing for him.

Of course everyone also noticed where Kai’s eyes kept looking. All throughout their performance Kai kept eye contact with JiHye who also couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She felt like he was mentally freezing her on the spot and binding her not to look away.

After the performance, girls flocked over the group but they all politely rejected them and went to their friends. Kai just walked directly towards JiHye and reached out a hand to her.

She accepted his hand and he slowly led her to the dance floor where a slow song now played.

            “those two seriously got some damn chemistry going on.” Gayoon commented looking at the pair walking towards the dance floor.

            “more than she and Chunji ever had actually.” L.Joe laughed.

            “yah! You’re supposed to be my friend.” Chunji snapped.

            “you’re the one who cheated on her, !” CAP replied hitting Chunji on the back of his head.

The other couples followed Kai and JiHye towards the dance floor while the ones without a partner went to their table and settled down.

Kai held JiHye’s right hand as her left rested on his shoulder. Kai then s his other hand around her waist and pulled her slightly forward.

            “you sure you want to dance after you just performed?” she asked as they swayed with the music.

            “as long as it’s with you, the word ‘rest’ does not exist in my vocabulary.” He ginned and spun her before pulling her back against him.

JiHye sighed a bit frustrated at Kai’s lack of seriousness.

            “honestly, Kai, can’t you be serious for once?”

Kai’s brows pinched together.

            “JiHye, I may sound like I’m joking around but all that you’ve been hearing from me is the truth and I am dead serious.” Kai’s voice really did become serious.

Surprised, JiHye looked up and stared into Kai’s brown orbs and felt her insides melt at his loving gaze. She suddenly felt turn into the Sahara Desert and could not get a word out.

            “but…” she started but Kai shook his head and cut her off.

            “I know you don’t want to be in a relationship now after what happened between you and Chunji, but just so you know I will wait till you’re ready.”

            “I can’t let you do that, Kai. It will be unfair.”

Kai shook his head again and pulled her even closer that her chest pressed against his and she felt his head leaned over hers.

            “I’m doing this because I know you will be worth the wait, JiHye-ah.” Kai said softly and JiHye could really feel the sincerity in his voice.

JiHye just sighed and closed her eyes feeling Kai’s warmth in his hug and leaned her head over his chest.

            “thanks.” She whispered.

A smiled spread across Kai’s face and he pulled slightly away to stare at her eyes.

            “I want something in return for waiting for you.” His teasing tone was back making JiHye frown slightly.

            “what is it?” she asked dubiously. Then Kai’s expression softened as he bent close to her ear.

            “you’re not to dance with anyone but me tonight.”

JiHye laughed knowing it was impossible with his friends around but she nodded anyway and gave him a soft gaze. JiHye wondered why she didn’t like Kai instead of Chunji but she pushed the thought away and replaced it with happier thought like that fact that she was there now, dancing with him and accepting his promise to wait for her.

Kai felt the warmth of JiHye’s gaze fill his heart and it made him happier than he ever was. Smiling down at her he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and kept her even closer to him as they danced.

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still unedited guys..hihi and the whole KyungBaek composing MAMA was just a random thing..hihi enjoy!