Jiyong opened the door to let the hotel staff wheel their breakfast into the suite. He saw the three girls emerging from their suite and trooping over to join in the breakfast. He smiled groggily at Anri and Gina who still looked half-asleep while Hyomin was massaging her cheeks as she stumbled towards him.

“Good morning,” Jiyong yawned. “What are you doing?” Hyomin’s eyes were half-closed behind her glasses and she continued massaging her face. “I drank too much last night and now my face is bloated.” She waved away the coffee that Seungri offered and dumped two lemon slices into a mug of hot water before stirring some honey in. Jiyong smiled and ruffled her messy hair, earning an annoyed glare from her before she turned to survey the breakfast spread. While she was deciding between the bread roll and toast, Jiyong sneaked up and took a sip of her drink.

“Aish, Oppa~!” Hyomin whined as he childishly stuck his tongue out at her. Seunghyun was the last to emerge from his room and stretched lazily as he stepped into the dining room. “You are all too energetic in the morning…” he said as he pulled a chair out for himself.

“Aigoo, another bloated pig,” Gina said as she eyed him with a horrified look. “If pictures of your face now turned up on the internet, no amount of PR magic can salvage your reputation.” Gina ducked niftily as Seunghyun pretended to want to smack her while Daesung and Youngbae played along by holding him back. Hyomin and Anri had loaded their plates up and were settling down on the couches to eat their breakfast while planning out the day’s program with Seungri and Youngbae.

Jiyong sat down beside Seunghyun with Daesung and Gina sitting across from them. “Jiyong ah,” Seunghyun said without looking up from his food. “No hard feelings, remember?” Jiyong looked at his older friend, blinking with confusion. As it hit him, Jiyong turned to look at Hyomin who was laughing with the other group and back at his hyung again. With wide eyes, he quickly swallowed the food in his mouth and washed it down with coffee. “Really?”

Seunghyun nodded, finally looking at Jiyong properly now. “When?” Jiyong asked, not able to handle more than one word at a time. Seunghyun’s answer was just as short. “Last night.”

Jiyong let out a sigh and chuckled bitterly. “Jiyong, no hard feelings.” Seunghyun repeated again, almost as though willing his friend not to get mad. Jiyong simply nodded and pushed his plate away. He turned in his seat and looked at Hyomin again. A small sad smile formed on his face as he watched her engrossed in the tourism manual and debating with his other members on where would be a better place to visit. Seunghyun was taken aback when Jiyong stood up suddenly and bounded over to the other group.

“Hyomin ah~!” He called loudly as he kneeled behind her sitting form and hugged her around her shoulders from the back. Hyomin tsk-ed her friend as she steadied her hand which had been holding onto her mug. “Don’t let him bully you, ok? And I’m right here if he ever makes you cry.” His whisper, loud enough only for her to hear, sent a shiver down her spine and he left a quick peck on her temple.

While Anri and the two guys bickered with Jiyong over his inappropriate behavior, Hyomin stared at Jiyong who was behaving like his usual cheeky self but the sad undertone in his whisper tugged at her heart. She turned to look at Seunghyun – the only person who could have enlightened Jiyong on her true feelings. He smiled at her, as though to tell her that he was right when he said Jiyong would be alright, but the smile she flashed back was not entirely genuine. Am I thinking too highly of myself? Was Seunghyun oppa right when he said Jiyong will rebound from my rejection swiftly?

Hyomin turned her thoughts back to the scene before her and she joined in the cheerful banter of the group again.

Seungri excitedly rushed in to the club, waving at the rest to follow him as they s their way to the VIP area and their reserved table. Seunghyun was already reciting a list of choice alcohol for the waiter to send over to their table while Anri and Hyomin were checking out the crowd on the dancefloor. Youngbae and Jiyong appeared minutes later with Gina who had gotten lost in the crowd earlier. Hyomin was surprised to see two other girls with them, gaining access to the VIP area.

Anri didn’t hide the fact that she was scanning them from head to toe and Gina nudged her, hinting to her to be more discreet. The newcomers were smiling excitedly, giggling and whispering to each other with shining eyes. Their eyes widened when Jiyong went over to usher them closer to their table.

“Girls, meet Soyeon-sshi and Eunhye-sshi,” Jiyong introduced the newcomers. The three of them exchanged greetings with Jiyong’s new friends.

“Told you he will recover fast,” Seunghyun said as he handed a drink to Hyomin. She smiled and shook her head wryly. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing… I’m that forgettable?” Seunghyun laughed as he gave her a quick hug and pinched her nose playfully. “I’ll definitely have difficulty forgetting you. But I won’t have to, because I’m keeping you forever.”

Hyomin giggled at his mushiness and the rest of the group seemed to have caught on to the couple’s progress with each other. Anri stared at Hyomin who was shyly looking down into her drink while Seunghyun tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “What did we miss?” she asked Seungri who was also checking out the couple. “A lot seems to have happened in the last 24 hours,” Anri said again as she motioned towards Jiyong and Daesung who were not focused on the two new girls.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to ask them directly?” Gina asked as she joined them with Youngbae in tow. “And is Jiyong really ok?” Youngbae smiled reassuringly, “He’ll live. He’s moved on very quickly, don’t you think? That’s GD for you.”

The next morning, the girls were surprised to see four grouchy and groggy boys trying to organize breakfast with Jiyong nowhere in sight. Seunghyun was chiding Daesung for snoring too loudly for him to sleep while Seungri and Youngbae were also subdued and silently pouring juice and coffee. The girls exchanged shrugs, not knowing what had happened because they had left the club early with Seunghyun first, leaving the rest of them behind.

Just then, two disheveled but still familiar looking figures emerged from one of the bedrooms and were heading towards the door with their heads bowed. “Ya! Don’t leave this behind!” Jiyong said as he appeared from the room too and tossed a phone to the two girls.

The group stared at Jiyong dumbfounded, even as he cheerfully greeted them good morning and started picking out what he wanted to eat. Gina was the first to speak. “Kwon Jiyong, now I’ve witnessed your true prowess for the first time. Just be merciful and not make my life as your publicist a big clean-up job.” Jiyong chuckled and stuffed the rest of his toast into his mouth.

“That’s why Daesung was sleeping with you last night,” Hyomin said to Seunghyun who was rubbing his eyes like a little boy. “You could have left him to sleep on the couch.” She laughed as Daesung threw her a pitiful look and whined at her cruelty.

They settled down to breakfast before convening for some down time in front of the TV. Hyomin was getting hot lemon tea for everyone (for the hangovers) and Jiyong came to help her. He was munching on some leftover ham and Hyomin laughed. “We just had breakfast, you’re hungry already?”

Jiyong smiled at her cheekily. “I expanded a lot of energy last night so I have to make up for it,” he grinned as he popped another chunk of ham into his mouth. Hyomin chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t overdo it – you heard Gina, she’s going to be in a lot of pain if those two girls from last night took pictures or videos.”

“You’re worried about me?” Jiyong asked, leaning on the kitchen counter and staring at Hyomin. A bell went off in her head but Hyomin ignored that niggly feeling. “I’m worried for Gina who will have to calm a furious sajangnim down with a rescue plan.”

Jiyong helped arrange the mugs on a tray and nudged her aside, indicating that he’ll carry the tray. “For a moment, I thought you might be jealous.” Hyomin was relieved to see that although he had sounded sad for a moment, it was a cocky smile that decorated his face. Did I hear wrongly?

It was the last day of their vacation and all of them were sad to leave. The five of them will be busy recording for their new album while Hyomin will be tying up the loose ends on 2NE1’s album before leading the project team for Big Bang’s world tour. Gina will be working closely with her on the communications plan for the whole campaign.

“So it seems like Jiyong is dealing with this whole thing,” Anri pointed at Hyomin and Seunghyun, “very maturely. But what are you going to do when you return to Seoul?” Jiyong looked at Hyomin and Seunghyun in turn and cleared his throat. “I hate to sound like a total hypocrite but let me remind you both that there’s a dating ban in-house.”

“We’ll work something out,” Seunghyun said confidently but Hyomin tapped his arm to get his attention. “Think it’s wiser to keep things low in YG. For now at least,” Hyomin said quietly. She was sorry to see disappointment fleet across his face before he nodded and ruffled her hair.

Jiyong looked away as Seunghyun kissed Hyomin lightly on her forehead. He needed to bury himself in the studio soon.