“Ray, you’re coming with me to rehearsal. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”       

And out the door they went, Sungjae in front with a firm grasp on Rainie, who was wriggling like a worm, trying to escape.

“Oppa, you’re crazy, I can’t go with you to practice! Our parents are going to be furious!” Rainie hissed, out of breath as they ran down the street.

“I’ll stand up for you.” He replied while still dragging her farther. “Anyways, they’ll never know.”

“Sung-jae!” Rainie tried again, but her brother was already far from listening.

Sighing, Rainie resorted to simply crossing her arms and letting Sungjae lead the way. Now of all times, she wished she had brought at least a hat with her, so that the passerby wouldn’t have to see her in such a predicament.

As with all scary things, the time it took to get to the school sped by like a tornado, and the pair arrived at the venue in what seemed like seconds. As they approached the set-up crew, Sungjae finally let go of Rainie’s wrist, deciding to just hold onto her hand.

“Oppa, don’t do that, people will think we’re dating or something.” Rainie mumbled for only him to hear.

“But we’re siblings!” he answered, looking horrified.

“Yeah, but the media doesn’t know that.” said Rainie as she tried to loosen his hold.

At that moment, two men with enormous cameras happened upon them, and immediately started taking pictures while pointing and jabbing their fingers all over the place like a bunch of hungry chickens. Noticing them, Sungjae reluctantly let go of Rainie, but kept close enough to touch. Thankfully, Peniel and the two boys he had been sitting next to at the restaurant saw the siblings approaching and gestured towards them.

“Wow, I’m surprised your sorry was good enough to convince Rainie to come.” Peniel speculated, slapping the indicated body part with a chuckle. “I was sure she would beat you up before that happened.”

Sungjae shrugged and placed a protective hand around Rainie’s shoulders. She frowned at him and moved farther away.

“I would introduce myself, but I think you already know that I’m your brother’s beautiful best friend who has the body of a god.” Peniel grinned cheekily at Rainie.

Sungjae scoffed beside him, earning a shove from the squinty-eyed boy. Rainie simply nodded with a slight smile in acknowledgement. She still felt extremely uncomfortable being around so many people who so far hadn’t demeaned her in any way.

“I’m Hyungsik, you can call me y-Man Hyungsik, or Eyesmile King Hyungsik, either is fine!” the squinty-eyed boy chirped as he stepped forward, bowing politely to Rainie, prompting her to do the same.

“And I’m Eunkwang.” said the brown-haired boy standing to the right of Peniel. “Nice to meet you, Rainie-shi.”

Remembering him as well, Rainie nodded and without thinking burst out, “You’re the boss of BTOB, right?”

Realizing how blunt she had just sounded, she blushed madly.

Eunkwang didn’t seem to mind, though, and took the comment in stride. “Neh, you could say that.” He chuckled. “You see, Hyungsik, I told you she would know!”

Hyungsik sniffed unhappily and shot daggers at him with his almost nonexistent eyes. He mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “Fart face.”

 The stage crew, who had finished setting up the performance area, called out to BTOB’s manager behind them, and the boys turned hastily around to face him.

“Alright now, costumes and makeup on in thirty minutes. I’ll be timing you.” The manager said with a joking tap at his watch.

With the school auditorium being too small, the concert was to be held in the gym, where the crew had set up massive lights and camera equipment. As Sungjae and the rest of his band mates dispersed to go get ready, Rainie found herself standing miserably in the middle of the gym with nothing to do. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her back.

“You look lonely.” Peniel smiled at her as she turned around to face him. “Why don’t you keep me company, I’m feeling a bit lonely too.”

“Oh…o…ok.” Rainie stammered and followed after him towards his makeup artist.

Peniel slowed down his stride so that she could walk beside him. “I’m glad you’re here, to be honest, Rainie-shi.” he said, looking at her with that same smile on his face.

“W-w-why?” she questioned, feeling her face heat up again.

“Well, I’m happy that you and Sungjae made up, so now I have someone new to hang out with for a change.” he laughed. “Penjae gets old sometimes.”

Rainie answered with what she hoped looked like an understanding nod. Truthfully, she really couldn’t remember what having a best friend felt like anymore.

“And I couldn’t be any luckier, meeting a new person as pretty as you.” Peniel added with slight twinkle in his eyes. 

Rainie gasped quietly while subconsciously pushing her falling glasses back up the ridge of her nose. She was sure her face looked hideous and red as a tomato.

“Y-you’re not so bad yourself.” She replied almost inaudibly, worried that she might be skirting the lines of acceptance with her words.  

To her relief, Peniel’s smile only got larger and more prominent. His smile was special; it made Rainie feel like all the rays of the sun where emitting from it and shining deep into the darkest corners of her heart. And the ice barriers around them were starting to melt, just the smallest bit.