Saturday rolls around, bringing the school dance with it. Eunji comes to Tarian’s place to get ready for it, but she makes it clear that she disapproves of Tarian’s new plans for the evening.

“Kim Himchan?” she says for the billionth time. She’s sitting on the edge of Tarian’s bed, pinning her hair back off her face with hairpins. “Of all the people you could go to the dance with, you had to choose Kim Himchan?”

“I didn’t choose him,” Tarian grumbles, smoothing out her dress and checking it in the full-length mirror. “I found myself suddenly without a date and he offered. That’s all there is to it.”

“But if you go with Himchan, you can’t, you know, really hang out with us,” Eunji points out.

Tarian fixes her with a flat look. “To be honest, Eunji, it might be kind of awkward hanging out with Yonghwa.”

Eunji frowns but doesn’t push the matter.

It’s just past nine o’clock when Eunji and Tarian arrive at the dance. The gymnasium has been decked out to the nines with cheesy decorations: streamers and balloons and multicolored lights. Even though Tarian can tell it’s lame the second she walks in the door, there are so many students there already that there’s barely room to move.

Eunji grins suddenly, spotting her boyfriend and his friends across the gym. “Ooh, there’s Minhyuk and the guys! Do you mind…?”

“Go ahead,” Tarian assures her. “I’ll be fine. I’m gonna go get some punch while I wait for Himchan.”

Eunji looks a little uncertain still but in the end she squeezes Tarian’s hand and disappears into the crowd to find the boys.

Tarian sighs and makes her way over to a long table where punch has been set up. She’s definitely wishing she had just bailed on the whole thing. Anything would be better than being here, with people staring at her and whispering. Everyone knows she and Yonghwa have broken up, and she’s fine with that. What she’s not fine with is the rumors circulating.

She pours herself a plastic cup of punch and tries to ignore the stares and whispers. She tries to tell herself that she doesn’t care.

“What are you doing all by your lonesome in the corner?”

Himchan appears, grinning wolfishly.

“Jesus, you-” Tarian begins to tell him off, but her words stick in . “Holy , Himchan.”

He beams. “I clean up nice, huh?”

Tarian rolls her eyes, ignoring the way Himchan’s skinny jeans cling to his slender frame. “You’re alright.” Then she sighs and gestures to the gym. “God, this thing is even lamer than I thought. We don’t have to stay long, right?”

“Aw, don’t be a spoilsport,” Himchan teases, grabbing her hand and dragging her out onto the dance floor. “Once we start dancing, you’ll forget all about how lame this thing is.”

Tarian rolls her eyes but allows herself to be pulled out into the crush of students dancing.

She’s not sure how long they’re dancing, but eventually they break away from the crowd to grab some more punch. It’s while they’re sipping the sugary sweet drink that Himchan’s phone rings.

He winks at Tarian and answers the phone. “Yo.”

There are some muffled words from the other end. Tarian isn’t really interested until Himchan says, “Sure. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“What’s going on?” she finds herself saying as he hangs up the phone again. “Are you leaving?”

“Something’s going down, so Yongguk needs me,” Himchan says apologetically. Then he pauses. “It shouldn’t take too long, you know. Why don’t you come with me? We can come back to the dance afterwards.”

Normally Tarian would say not no, but hell no. But she was still angry with Yongguk, confused, and so she jumped at the opportunity. “Sure. Why not?”

Himchan grinned and offered her his arm gallantly. “Let’s go, shall we?”

Unlike Yongguk, Himchan drives a car, and he holds open the passenger side door for her before going around to slide behind the wheel. Then they’re pulling away from the school’s parking lot and heading deeper into the city.

“So where are we going?” Tarian asks as they zoom along.

Himchan grins. “You’ll see. Not getting nervous, are you? Afraid you’re in over your head?”

Tarian scoffs and rolls her eyes. “As if. You may think you’re all big and bad, but I know the truth. You’re just a big pushover.”

Himchan laughs, but he’s not agreeing with her.

They end up at an old warehouse, a few other cars parked out front. Tarian, curious, follows Himchan inside the old building.

It’s dark inside, and it smells of mildew and rot. There is what appears to be a little office at the far end of the empty warehouse, and a light is oozing from underneath the door. It’s to this that Himchan leads her.

Past the door is a tiny little room, bathed in a bright fluorescent glow that makes everyone inside look a little sickly. Tarian recognizes the B.A.P of course – they’re all there, even Yongguk. There are seven other guys there that she doesn’t know. They’re all gathered around a table, with bags of white powder and stacks of cash spread out around them.

Yongguk is on his feet at once, looking furious. “What the hell is she doing here?” he hisses.

Himchan holds up his hands as if in surrender. “We were at the dance together. She just came along for the ride.”

One of the boys Tarian doesn’t know stands up. He’s got a shock of blonde hair and his arms are covered in tattoos. He looks Tarian up and down suggestively. “She trustworthy?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“I am,” Tarian assures him, quirking an eyebrow right back.

“She’s totally cool,” Junhong agrees with a grin. “She’s practically one of us.”

Yongguk grits his teeth; Tarian finds it a bit amusing to see him losing his cool like this. “No she’s not. She is not one of us. She needs to get the hell out of here.”

Tarian pouts playfully; she’s still confused by what she’d overheard Yonghwa and Yongguk discussing the other day, but she wants to push Yongguk and see how he reacts. “But Himchan drove me here. If I leave, how am I going to get home? I’m in an unfamiliar part of town all by myself. It could be dangerous, you know.”

Yongguk snorts.

The stranger grins. “I like this one,” he announces grandly. “Where’ve you been keeping her hidden?”

“We’re classmates,” Tarian says before anyone else can introduce her. “That’s all. My name’s Tarian.”

The boy winks at her; he’s quite good-looking. “You can call me Zico,” he introduces himself. “We’re about done here. What do you say I give you a ride home? You can tell me all about these clowns.”

Tarian doesn’t have to even look at Yongguk to know he’s fuming. She puts on a flirtatious air and bats her eyelashes. “That sounds great.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Yongguk says, and his voice is deep and dangerous.

Tarian turns to look at him. “You don’t own me, Bang Yongguk,” she says shrilly. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Zico gestures to his buddies and they start packing up the bags of white powder. “We’re square, right? You guys can finish up without me? Miss Tarian and I have a date.” And he offers his hand to her.

Even though she knows she’s being stupid and she’ll probably regret it later, Tarian accepts his hand and leaves with him without a backward glance. She doesn’t have to look at Yongguk to know how furious he is, after all.

Zico doesn’t speak until they’re in his car, speeding towards yet another unfamiliar part of town. “So what’s the deal with you and Yongguk?” he asks good-naturedly, lighting a cigarette.

Tarian glances at him stiffly. “There’s nothing going on with us,” she lies.

He barks out a laugh. “Sweetheart, I’ve known Bang Yongguk since we were kids,” he tells her. “And I have never seen him act that way over a girl before. And you’re pretty transparent too, you know. Trying to make him jealous.”

She chuckles sheepishly. “Am I that obvious?”

He winks at her. “Thought I’d help you out. If I know Yongguk – and I do – he’ll come looking for you. We’ll go chill at my place until he does. And you can tell me all about this thing that’s going on.”

So, against her better judgment, Tarian ends up at Zico’s apartment, sitting on his couch and spilling her guts to him. She tells him about everything, from sleeping with Yongguk to dating Yonghwa to the conversation she’d overheard a few days before. She’s practically hoarse by the time she finishes.

Zico hums thoughtfully, taking a drag off his cigarette before stubbing it out in an overflowing ashtray. “I wondered why Yongguk had gotten back with Chaerin,” he said. “He pretty much hates the girl. I guess it makes sense that he did it to stay away from you.”

Tarian groans in frustration. “But why? If he likes me, why can’t it just be that simple?”

But Zico shakes his head. “Yongguk has had a rough life. He doesn’t let people get close to him, and he doesn’t get close to others. He’s had to look out for himself for so long that he probably doesn’t even trust himself to be with anyone anymore. But trust me, he’s a good guy at heart. He just has to realize that himself.”

There is a sudden beating on the door. “Zico, open up this damn door before I break it down!” Yongguk’s voice threatens from the other side.

Zico chuckles. “Told you so,” he whispers, before getting up to answer the door.

He’s barely gotten it unlocked before Yongguk is pushing past him, red-faced and still furious. He spots Tarian on the couch and grabs her by the hand, tugging her after him and out the door again without another word.

“See you later, Tarian!” Zico calls after her, a laugh in his voice.

Yongguk doesn’t speak at all as he shoves his helmet into her hands, nor when she swings her leg over the back of his bike behind him. Then they’re speeding along so quickly that there’s no chance for talking, and the next thing Tarian knows, they’re pulling up in front of her apartment building.

Yongguk cuts the engine but refuses to look at her. “Get off,” he says tersely. “Go home.”

“Yongguk,” she tries.

“Go home,” he says again, leaving no room for argument.

Sighing, Tarian hands him back his helmet and walks into her apartment building.