They both sleep late the following morning, but in the end it’s Tarian who wakes first, feeling strangely refreshed despite everything. Yongguk is still asleep beside her, one arm thrown over his head, his chest rising and falling with each deep, peaceful breath.

Eventually she climbs out of bed noiselessly and gets into the shower, washing away whatever physical evidence remains of her night with Yongguk. When she gets out again, the only visible sign left is a purplish bruise on her neck.

Yongguk is awake when she comes out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her clothes from yesterday and with makeup covering the love bite. He’s wearing pants but nothing else, smoking a cigarette on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to shower,” he announces, and there’s nothing in his voice that suggests their relationship has changed in any way. Tarian doesn’t know how she feels about that. “We’ll head back to Seoul afterwards.”

So Yongguk showers and they grab some coffee at a café downstairs before climbing back into the car to head back home, the little bag still locked in the glove compartment. Like the day before, they drive with only the radio for company. But, quite unlike the day before, Yongguk reaches across the center console and laces his fingers with Tarian’s. She’s not quite sure how she feels about that, but a little smile spreads across her face.

Yongguk pulls up in front of Tarian’s apartment building despite her never having given him directions; she supposes she shouldn’t be surprised. He knows more than he should, after all.

A thanks for the ride hovers on the tip of her tongue, but it seems ridiculous to thank him when he’s the one who practically kidnapped her from school. She could thank him for the amazing , she supposes, but she doesn’t want to become that kind of girl.

Yongguk solves the dilemma for her, leaning across to connect their lips. It’s not exactly innocent, but it’s not pressuring either. “See you on Monday,” he says, the ghost of a smile on his lips when he pulls back.

“Yeah, sure. Monday,” Tarian agrees half-heartedly, and she climbs out of the car and heads inside.

Naeun is standing just inside the lobby, a plastic bag from the convenience store in her hand. “Where have you been, unnie?” she demands, and she looks like she might cry from relief. “Dad and I have been worried sick about you!”

Tarian feels a surge of guilt. “I’m so sorry,” she says. “I didn’t have my phone. I left it at school and I had no way of contacting you.”

“Where were you?” Naeun demands, her eyes big with a sort of hopelessness that Tarian does not at all like. “Nobody knew. Not even Eunji or Yonghwa. Everyone said you just disappeared from school!”

Tarian scratches the back of her neck awkwardly, her fingers ghosting over the love mark Yongguk had left. She’s not quite sure how to explain this without it sounding incredibly damning. As much as Yongguk annoys her, she doesn’t want to get him in trouble. “A friend needed help with something,” she says. “It was sort of urgent, so we left school right away. I left my bag and my phone and everything.”

“A friend?” Naeun repeats, hands on her hips. “Since when is Bang Yongguk your friend?”

Tarian groans. So Naeun had seen who she’d been in the car with.

“I thought you said you weren’t hanging around with them, Tarian,” Naeun says plaintively. “You said it was just odd circumstances that everyone thinks you’re with them! But you were with him!”

Tarian doesn’t know what to say, so she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“How could I go to school when I thought you were lying dead in a ditch somewhere?” Naeun demands, and there are actual tears in her eyes now. “Daddy wanted to stay home too but he couldn’t call out from work. I need to go call him now and tell him you’re safe.”

Tarian reaches out to grab her sister’s arm before Naeun can get too far. “Don’t tell him,” she says, and she’s surprised by the desperate note in her voice. “Don’t tell Daeho who I was with.”

Naeun looks at her for a long moment, as if debating whether or not to agree.

“I wasn’t in any danger,” Tarian assures her. “I promise. I was perfectly fine, okay? There’s no need to worry him unnecessarily.”

Naeun finally gives in. “Fine. I won’t tell him who you were with. But I do need to tell him that you’re home.”

Tarian nods and releases Naeun’s arm. “Of course. Go ahead,” she says.

It’s after dusk when Daeho gets home. Tarian has expected some sort of parental lecture about being responsible, but she is not at all prepared for the way Daeho bursts into her bedroom without knocking, red in the face, his tie askew. Tarian has never seen him angry before; she’s completely taken aback.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he shouts, Naeun hovering nervously in the doorway. “You know those B.A.P. boys are bad news! Everyone has told you to stay away from them! And I thought you were smart enough to listen! But not only have you gone and spent all night with one of them, but the leader? He’s the most dangerous of all!”

Tarian glares at Naeun, who positively wilts.

“I’m sorry,” she groans. “He asked and I’m no good at lying! I really didn’t mean to tell!”

“Who I go out with is none of your concern,” Tarian says coolly. She’d never had to explain her friends – if Yongguk and those clowns even were her friends – to a parent before; she’s not about to start now. “I was perfectly fine. I know how to take care of yourself.”

It’s quite possibly the worst thing she could have said in this situation. Daeho’s face goes even redder. “You’re my daughter!” he practically roars, and he’s so loud that neighbors surely know everything that’s going on. “Everything you do is my concern! I will not have you hanging out with those hoodlums anymore!”

Tarian bites back the urge to laugh. “I’ll hang out with whoever I damn well please,” she says defiantly.

“Not while you live under my roof!” Daeho shouts. “I forbid you to see them ever again! Any of them!” And with that he leaves, slamming the door behind him.

Tarian is furious.

By the next morning, Daeho has not relented in the least. Before he leaves for yet another Saturday at the office, he firmly tells Tarian that she’s not allowed to leave the house. He even makes a point to tell her that Naeun is in charge for the day, to which Tarian rolls his eyes. Daeho fumes at her for a few more minutes before kissing Naeun goodbye and heading off to work.

The second he’s gone, Tarian gets her bag down from her closet and begins throwing whatever she can into it.

“Unnie, do you want to-” Naeun comes into Tarian’s bedroom but stops when she sees her sister backing a bag. Her face pales. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Tarian snaps. “I’m getting the hell out of this place.”

Naeun panics properly. “What are you talking about? You can’t leave! You heard Daddy!”

Tarian scoffs. “Sorry, but nobody tells me who I can and cannot hang out with. I grew up with a certain amount of freedom, and I’m not about to give that up because some people can’t cut the ing umbilical cord.”

“Where will you go?” Naeun worries, chewing on her lower lip as she follows the elder to the front door.

Tarian shoves her feet in her trusty boots without bothering to zip them. “You can’t tell what you can’t know,” she says snidely, and then she’s gone.

She doesn’t even know where he half-assed plan of running away came from, but in half an hour she’s standing in front of Yongguk’s door. She knocks before she even has the chance to second guess herself.

Yongguk answers after a moment, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lower lip and a backwards baseball cap perched on his head. He looks more than a little surprised to see Tarian there. “What’s up?” he asks.

She takes a deep breath. “I had to leave my house,” she says simply. “And I can’t go back. Can I crash here for a few days?”

Much to her relief, Yongguk steps aside and lets her in with no hesitation.

“Thanks,” she mumbles.

He pecks her on the lips as he closes the door, tasting of nicotine and smoke. “Anytime.”  

eep!