“Yah, I can’t believe he really bought this for you,” Eunji smirks, playing with the little charm on Tarian’s cell phone. “You must really have him wrapped around your little finger.”

“It’s not like that,” Tarian grumbles, snatching her phone back from her friend. It’s Thursday during lunch hour and, since their guy friends are rehearsing for some sort of performance, it’s just Eunji and Tarian eating together. It’s rainy so they’re stuck eating indoors instead of in the courtyard where they normally have their lunch. “He just bought it to be nice.”

Eunji wrinkles her nose. “Minhyuk doesn’t buy me any presents anymore. Maybe he should take some lessons from Yonghwa.”

“Just tell him you want something,” Tarian suggests, finishing up her yogurt.

Eunji playfully slaps her on the arm. “I can’t do that! That defeats the whole purpose.”

“What purpose?” Tarian demands, but she never hears what Eunji’s response is because her cell phone chooses that moment to vibrate. “Ah, hold that thought,” she says, checking the caller ID. “It’s my sister.”

“Unnie,” Naeun says when Tarian answers. “I need you to do me a huge favor.”

Tarian wrinkles her nose but grunts affirmatively. Naeun is the type who won’t ask for favors unless she really needs them, so Tarian can’t very well say no. “What is it?”

“I got an interview with a really well-known curator at one of the art museums here; she might want to do an exhibit that includes some of my pieces,” Naeun says quickly. “Only I’ll have to go straight from school. Is there any way you can take my bag home?”

That’s it? Tarian doesn’t have a problem with a small favor like this. “Sure, no big deal. I’ll meet you out front of the high school after the last bell and-”

“I won’t have time,” Naeun interrupts her. “Can I drop it off now? Before lunch hour ends?”

Tarian glances at the time on the screen of her handphone. She’s only got about ten minutes, but what the hell. “Sure, I’ll go wait out there for you now.”

“Thanks, unnie, you’re the best!” Naeun gushes, obviously relieved. “I’ll be right there!” And the line goes dead.

“What’s that all about?” Eunji asks, eating her last french fry.

Tarian shoulders her bag, weighed down by her camera in its special case. “My sister needs to drop something off so I’m going to go meet her by the school gate. See you later.”

It’s pouring down rain so she waits by one of the side doors until she sees Naeun running up the sidewalk. Then she dashes out to meet her half-sister.

“Thanks so much, unnie,” Naeun says again. “You’re really a lifesaver. See you tonight! I’ll be home late, but there are leftovers in the fridge so eat whenever you get hungry. Or you can order takeout, I think Dad left a little money in the drawer by the stove. Okay, bye!” And she’s gone again.

Now shouldering both hers and Naeun’s bags, Tarian dashes back through the rain to the side door she’d come out of only to find it locked. It must have locked automatically after she’d let it close.

Cursing to herself in both Korean and English, she realizes she’s going to have to run all the way around the school building to the front entrance. Probably getting soaked in the process. Just her luck. She really should’ve said no to the favor. Or at least asked to borrow Eunji’s umbrella. Or maybe invested in an umbrella of her own, as she hasn’t bought one since she’s moved.

Sighing, she uses Naeun’s bag over her head as a sort of shield from the torrential downpour and starts jogging around to the front of the school building, her boots splashing through accumulating puddles.

Perhaps it’s because of the rain or perhaps it’s because she’s cursing Naeun’s favors in her head, but she doesn’t hear the shouting until she’s practically upon them. She doesn’t recognize any of them at first, just dark shapes with dark hair throwing punches this way and that. The longer she stands there, however, she comes to realize that they’re not fighting each other; they’re fighting one person who is hidden in the midst of them, a guy with blonde hair. After several seconds, Tarian gets a glimpse of his face: Yongguk.

Though she’s more than bored with this tough-guy fighter routine, she’s got to say she’s more than impressed that he’s managing to hold off six guys at once. It’s not a very fair fight in the least, but Yongguk is holding his own as far as she can tell.

She doesn’t like Yongguk – or any of the B.A.P. for that matter – but she doesn’t like unfair fights even more. “Hey!” she exclaims, Naeun’s bag still held over her head in a futile attempt to stay dry. “What do you idiots think you’re doing? This is a school, not a boxing ring! If you want to be s go do it somewhere else! Some of us are trying to learn here, you know! And how lame are you to fight six against one! Afraid he’s going to kick your asses if you fight him honorably?”

Tarian doesn’t expect her little tirade to really affect them in any way, but it does cause them to look up at her for a few seconds – mostly confused as to why she’s even addressing them in the first place, as most people here seem to try and avoid these matters like the plague. But it’s enough time for Yongguk to shove his way through, grab Tarian’s hand, and whisper, “Run!”

Somehow she ends up running after him, his hand clamped down around hers, the two bags bouncing painfully against her thighs. Behind them, she can hear the six goons following closely, their heavy footfalls slapping through the puddles.

Around the school they go, dashing through the parking lot, past teacher’s cars and a few parked buses for school trips and sports teams. There’s a motorcycle parked at the far end, and Yongguk swings his leg easily over it and hands the helmet to Tarian. “Come on,” he says.

“No way,” she exclaims, jerking away from him. “Do you really expect me to just get on a bike with you?”

Yongguk seems to smirk at her. “Fine, then. Stay here with them.” And he gestures to the guys still running after them.

Tarian wrinkles her nose but accepts the helmet and climbs on behind him. She barely has enough time to grab onto him before he’s zooming off, leaving their pursuers behind in the dust.

They drive for about twenty minutes before Yongguk finally stops, pulling over in front of a little café and cutting the engine. “Come on,” he mutters, climbing off the bike. “You look like you’re frozen to the bone.”

Tarian doesn’t particularly want to go with him – out of all the B.A.P. guys, Yongguk is the only one who actually sort of frightens her – but she also doesn’t want to sit out here in the rain by herself. Plus she’s in an unfamiliar neighborhood, so she follows him inside.

Because of the hour, the café is practically deserted. There’s a moon-faced girl manning the counter – or, more precisely, reading a fashion magazine – and a university student sitting by the window with his laptop open, working furiously on a paper. Yongguk motions for Tarian to go sit at the booth in the back, the furthest away from the door, and then goes to the counter to guy coffee.

Tarian is shivering as she slides into the booth, shrugging out of her damp blazer and folding it on the seat beside her. She finds Naeun’s gym t-shirt in her bag and uses that to dry her long hair. She’s still drying it when Yongguk slides into the booth across from her, pushing a hot chai tea across the table.

“Are you assuming I like chai tea?” she asks, arching an eyebrow at both him and the steaming cup in front of her.

He rolls his eyes, biting back what looks like a smile. “Everybody likes chai tea. Just drink it.” She does, actually, like chai tea, so she takes it and warms her hands with it for a moment before taking a sip. It’s delicious.

“So what was that all about?” she asks against her better judgment, trying not to stare at the way Yongguk’s hair is plastered to his forehead from the rain or the way little droplets run down his neck and into his ed collar.

He shrugs. “Some s who don’t know how to keep their distance,” he mutters, taking a sip of his coffee. “You sure came at an opportune time though.”

Again, Tarian quirks her eyebrow at him. “Is that a thank you in there somewhere?”

He chuckles. “Sure, if you want. Thank you. And you should take that to heart, because I don’t say that to just anybody.”

“Well, don’t I feel special then,” she says sarcastically. She wonders why this casual banter between them feels both dangerous and comfortable. She also wonders why can’t take her eyes off those water droplets making their lazy way down his chest. She grabs Naeun’s t-shirt and throws it at him. “Here, dry off with this,” she mutters.

He catches it and glances at the logo for the middle school on the front before drying his hair with it. “Where’d you get this? You secretly go to the junior high as well as the high school?”

She makes a face at him. “Very funny. It’s my sister’s. I’m taking her bag home for her because she has something to do after school, and her shirt was in the bag.”

“Ah, so you have a sister,” he muses, throwing the damp t-shirt back to her. “Is she American as well.”

“No, Korean.” Tarian tucks the shirt away and reminds herself to wash it before Naeun comes home. “She’s my half-sister. We have the same dad and different moms.”

He nods as if it’s not a big deal, even though it’s not very common there. “My sister and I have different fathers,” he says.

She wrinkles her nose at him. “Is this you trying to make me feel better? Because if so, you’re doing a pretty ty job of it.”

Again he chuckles and throws a paper towel at her across the table. “I was just making conversation. Now finish your tea so we can go.”

The rain has let up by the time they leave the café, the sun peeking through the clouds ever-so-slightly. “Tell me where you live and I’ll take you home,” Yongguk says, handing Tarian the helmet.

She accepts it unwillingly. “Who says I want you to know where I live? Aren’t you some kind of big-time thug or whatever? Do you think it’s safe for me to tell you where my house is?”

He laughs. “Fine, then. Where do you want me to drop you off?”

“Um, the corner with the drugstore on it by school,” Tarian says. It’s about halfway between school and Daeho’s apartment building, so she figures it’s a safe bet.

The drive to the drugstore is unpleasant. Tarian is still soaked and her clothes are freezing, and the wind as they drive only makes things worse. Her teeth are chattering and she’s shivering by the time Yongguk cuts the engine in front of the drugstore.

“I would say thanks for the ride but it’s sort of your fault I needed a ride in the first place,” she mutters, trying to comb through her wild, windswept hair with her stiff fingers.

He snorts at her. “Fine then, next time I’ll leave you there and you can deal with those idiots on your own.”

Tarian flips him a significant hand gesture and heads off in the direction of Daeho’s apartment.

“See you later,” Yongguk calls after her.

“Hopefully not,” she shouts back. 

Sorry it's taken me so long to update, guys! I moved to Korea last week and so things have been very, very hectic lately. I'll try to get back to a regular updating schedule soon