“Charlotte.” I hear someone whisper in my ear.

I lazily wave them away. Can’t they see I’m sleeping?

“Charlotte.” The person says a little louder.

I groan in response. I turn my body, but end up falling off. What? How can I fall off a bed? Aren’t they supposed to be big? I distantly hear my body make a thud and pain shoots up my left arm. I snap my eyes open and sit up.

“Ow…” I whimper. I rub my arm up and down. Jeez, that was a big sting.

“Are you okay?” I hear someone say beside me. It’s Jiyong.

“Where am I?” I ask him as I look around. Then the answer hits me. What in the world! How did I get in the living room?

“You fell off the couch. Again.” He smiles at me.

“How’d you know about that?” I ask as he helps me up.

“Seunghyun hyung told me about it.” He chuckles.

Once I’m back on the sofa, I inspect it. I see a pillow and a ruffled blanket. Did I sleep here last night? But I thought… Am I going insane? I could have sworn I slept in YoungBae’s room last night. I even stayed up longer with him so I could talk to him. Well, we didn’t really talk much except for when he asked me about his hoodie… His hoodie! I look down at myself. I’m still wearing it. But how did I end up waking on the couch again? I let my head fall into my hands.

“I’m going insane for sure.” I mutter.

“What was that?” Jiyong asks beside me.

I snap my head up and smile at him. “Nothing. So, what are we going to do today?” I change the subject.

Jiyong’s face instantly lights up. “You’ll see.”

I smile at him teasingly. “You boys seem to tell me that a lot.”

He gives me a boyish smile then he inspects my left arm. “Does it hurt?” He asks. I shake my head. My stomach suddenly grumbles. Jiyong laughs and leads me to the kitchen. Daesung and Seungri are already eating their breakfast.

“Noona, come eat now. Jiyong hyung made breakfast today.” Seungri says with a mouthful. I sit across from Daesung and Jiyong sits beside me. I start eating my food hungrily. Seunghyun comes in after I finish my breakfast up.

“Charlotte, I’m going to take a shower now.” He gives me a huge smile. “Daesungie, can you please show her what to wear?” After that, he leaves the table and I hear the door to the bathroom shut.

Daesung stands up and pulls me out. Daesung suddenly tiptoes when we get in YoungBae’s room. Daesung gently pushes me down at the end of YoungBae’s bed while he goes in his closet. I turn my head and look at YoungBae. He’s still sleeping. Why does he seem to be sleeping in later than usual?

“Noona.” Daesung whispers. I turn back around, embarrassed. Daesung gives me a teasing smile. “Go put this on.” He throws the clothes and he shoves me in YoungBae’s closet. I give him a confused look. “Jiyong hyung is taking a shower, remember?”

“Oh…” I murmur as I close the door. I quickly strip off my clothes and put on the white ripped skinny jeans. I then put on the navy blue v-neck shirt. I pick up YoungBae’s hoodie and hang it back up where I found it.

I could have sworn I slept in his room last night, but the more I think about it, the more it all seems like a dream. I sigh as I think about our actions. Even if it was a dream or not, it felt so real. Just like how his arm around me sent chills right down to my toes or how that flame intensifies when I trailed my hand down his back. I could have sworn I felt him shudder from my touch. I shake my head.

I shouldn’t be thinking about this now. Today, I’ll be spending my time with Jiyong. My lips curl up to a smile as I think about Jiyong and Seungri. If they’re just like brothers, then I’m sure to expect something like Seungri’s day…right?

I hear a door close the same time I open the closet door. I walk out of the closet expecting to see Daesung sitting on the floor, but end up with Daesung nowhere to be seen and YoungBae sitting up, fully awake. I freeze.

Silence was slowly killing me. I could feel the heat rush up to my cheeks once I meet YoungBae’s eyes. Without breaking eye contact, I point behind me. “Uh, Daesung…told me…to…”

In a matter of seconds, YoungBae was already right in front of me, our faces inches apart. He stares at me for what seem like years, and I look at him right back. Then dark circles under his eyes grabs my attention. Without thinking about it, I reach up and caress the circles under his eyes. It looks like it’s getting worse.

“Have you been getting sleep at night?” I ask, worry evident in my voice.

He gives me a shy smile. “Yes. Very good sleep.” I don’t know why, but my heart skips a few beats when I hear him say that. “Why?” He asks.

I shake my head a little. “You have dark circles under your eyes. It’s darker than last time.” My thumb continues to absentmindedly caress the circles.

His smile widens little and he shrugs. A knock on the door interrupts what he was going to say.

“Noona, Jiyong hyung is looking for you now.” I hear Daesung outside.

I lock eyes with YoungBae again and whisper, “You should get more sleep.” I smile at him and leave his room. Daesung greets me with a smile.

I sling my arm over his shoulders. “Good night sleep?” I ask him.

“Of course. I heard you fell of the couch twice already. You must’ve had some night.” He snorts. I look at him in confusion. What’s that supposed to mean? Daesung ignores my stare and leads me to the living room.

Jiyong rises from the couch with a huge smile on his face. He extends his arm out. “Ready?”

“As always.” I reply as I link my arm with his. I give Daesung a wave before we leave the dorm. “So, where are we going today?” I ask Jiyong as we get into the same black van from yesterday.

Jiyong pretends to not hear my question and tells the driver something in Korean. The van starts moving.

“Where did Seungri take you yesterday?” Jiyong asks, trying to look nonchalant. I smile. Daesung must have just told him that he won. That sneaky boy.

I shrug, another smile playing on my lips. “He took me to a place a little off from the city.”

Just like Daesung, Jiyong’s shoulders slump in defeat. His eyebrows knit together as he stays quiet for a while.

“But,” I sing. He snaps his attention back to me. I sigh and smile at him. “He took me to watch a movie in the afternoon.”

First, Jiyong looks at me in confusion, then shock, annoyance, and it ends with a smile. But I can see a hint of an evil glint in his eyes.

I roll my eyes. “Just take 10 bucks from him just as he did to you. Then you both gained 10 bucks. Don’t start planning on revenge.”

He looks as me in disbelief. “How’d you know about that?”

I simply laugh and shake my head. Just like yesterday with Seungri, I try asking him about where we’re going to go. I still get nothing, but his smile. I give up and look out the window. I can see the buildings decreasing, as we keep moving. After 6 minutes of pure silence, I ask Jiyong something that’s been nagging my mind.

“Jiyongie.” I murmur. I mentally smile. I heard YoungBae say this name before. It feels fun to call him that. Jiyong turns his head toward me with a peaceful smile. “YG-shi told me about your relationship with YoungBae.” I tell him.

Jiyong’s smile grows bigger. “Really? What did he tell you?”

“Well, he didn’t tell me much. Just that you two have known each other for 10 years and you two started training so young.” I tell him as I try to remember what else he said.

Jiyong looks slightly disappointed. “Is that it?”

I think about it. YG did say something that did get me shocked. Something about… I clap my hands as it hits me.

“Oh! He told me that YoungBae has never had a girlfriend while you haven’t had much either.” I say. Jiyong remains quiet. I suddenly notice what I just said and I blush deeply. “Sorry, I wasn’t—“

Jiyong’s boyish smile cuts me off. “It’s okay. Besides, it’s true.” He shrugs.

My curiosity got the best of me. “Among the girls you dated, was any of them your first love?” I expect Jiyong to shut me up or explode, but he seems totally relaxed.

He leans back on the seat. He looks forward as I see him zone off. After a few moments, I thought he wasn’t going to answer me so I turn back to the window. “Yes.” I hear him murmur.

“Huh?” I turn back to him.

He smiles at me. “Yes, I did have a first love. But it ended a few months later.” He tells me. I see his eyes zone off as he laughs quietly to himself. I smile at his soft expression. This is the first time I’m seeing such a sweet, soft expression on him. It makes him look more adorable.

My big mouth ruined his moment. “What about YoungBae?” Do I need duct tape to keep my mouth shut on times like this?

Jiyong turns away from his thoughts. “He did have a first love.”

I felt my shoulders slump unconsciously. “But how can he when he’s never had a girlfriend?” I ask.

“Oh, he fell in love with someone, but it was from afar. Like a one-sided love.” He explains. I felt myself relax. A one-sided love…

“I see.” I murmur.

The soft expression was back on his face. “You like YoungBae, don’t you?”

I look at him in surprise. All he does is stare into my eyes. After a while, he slowly smiles. “Your silence says it all.” Heat instantly comes up to my cheeks. Jiyong reaches over and brushes the back of his hand across my cheek. “You’re good for him.” He whispers.

I raise my eyebrows. He drops his hand back to his lap. “I can see he’s different with you…” A smile curls up in his lips. Then he murmurs something else so low that I can’t hear at all.

I look down at my lap and play with my fingers. The car suddenly stops. The driver says something Korean. Jiyong’s sweet smile changes into a playful one.

“Let’s go!” He excitedly says. We climb out of the car and I’m greeted with a huge park. It’s stunning… absolutely stunning.

I feel Jiyong slip his hand in mine. “I can see how much you like parks, so I thought I’d take you to the place where I was a little kid.” He tells me shyly.

I feel my eyes go round as I look at him. “It’s beautiful.” I smile at him.

He gives me a shy smile and pulls me along. We start walking around the park. My eyes stay round as I take everything in. There’re two sets of playground across from each other on the side. From the kids surrounding the two, the left one was for the bigger kids while the right side was for the kiddies. Since we walk pass this part first, the bigger kids scream at the sight of Jiyong.

“G-Dragon!”

“GD! Ah!”

“It’s G-Dragon!”

A crowd of girls runs up to Jiyong and stands in front of him. They all hold their phones tightly as they giggle when Jiyong smiles at them.

“Ladies.” Jiyong sings. I see some of them cover their mouth and others smile widely. Jiyong continues to say something in Korean.

The girls then start to shove their pen and papers at him. Without releasing my hand, he signs all of them with ease. I see some girls give me weird looks, while some glare at our hands, and others look at me with curiosity.

One of the girls in the front asks Jiyong something in Korean while eyeing me. I give her a small smile. She looks surprised from my smile and looks at Jiyong.

Jiyong replies back with a smile and squeezes my hand, earning me some scary glares from the girls. Another girl asks something and Jiyong nods. Jiyong leans in and whispers in my ear. “You can sit down for a while. The girls want some pictures.”

I smile at him and nod. Before I leave, I confidently smile at the group of girls. I let go of Jiyong’s hand and go sit on one of the swings. I look down at my feet as I smile to myself. So, that’s the famous life. Being around in public and the fans start ambushing you. Still, this isn’t as harsh as the fans in America.

Someone lightly taps on my shoulder and I snap my head up. A little boy with light brown hair shyly smiles at me. I smile widely. I adore kids a lot. There were times that I actually thought about running a day-care center a few years ago.

“Hi there.” I smile at the boy. He timidly waves and looks down at his feet.

“Oh! I’m Charlotte. What’s your name?” I ask him. I’m fully aware that this kid can’t speak English, but he seems to understand me. Though, I’m still not expecting much.

“Hong HyeJin.” He meets my eyes and smiles.

“That’s a nice name. How old are you, HyeJin?” I ask him lightly. He shyly holds up 4 fingers. “Wah~” I say in amazement.

He takes a deep breath and holds out something for me. It’s a purple flower. “Aigoo! Kashamnida, HyeJin.” I take the flower from him. I recently learned how to say “thank you” in Korean. I’m not bragging, but I definitely said it right. He blushes and slightly boys. Ah, he’s so cute!

“Charlotte?” I hear someone call me from behind. I turn my head and smile at Jiyong. Jiyong looks between the boy and me. “We can go now.”

I nod at him and turn back to HyeJin. He still blushing, but he’s looking up at Jiyong in awe. Jiyong gives him a tiny wave and says hello. He takes my hand again. I crouch down at meet HyeJin’s eyes.

“Thank you, again.” I smile as I lightly kiss his cheek. HyeJin instantly turns pink as he touches his cheek. Jiyong ruffles his hair before we walk away. As we pass by the kiddies’ playground, I look at the flower. It’s small and pretty. It’s fully bloomed. I smile to myself. At the corner of my eye, I see Jiyong smiling at me.

“What?” I turn my head to him.

He chuckles and slips his hand in mine again. “Why is it that the little boy gets a kiss from you?” He asks teasingly. “Don’t I get one?” He points to his cheek.

I shake my head playfully. “Nope. The little boy gave me a flower, so I think it’s fair I give him something in return.” I poke Jiyong’s cheek.

He laughs and lets go of my hand. He slings his arm around my shoulders with ease. “That’s not fair. I guess you have to be cute to earn that kind of things.” He pouts. I laugh and shake my head.

Something then tugs on my shirt. I look down and instantly smile. I make Jiyong stop as I wave to another little boy. He smiles at me confidently and hands me another two flowers. This time, it’s a little bigger than HyeJin’s.

“You’re pretty.” He tells me. This boy seems to know English.

“Thank you. What’s your name?” I ask as I softly take the flowers from him.

“Anthony. I’m six.” He smiles. His eyes are full of confidence. He reminds me of Seungri. Seungri’s eyes always seem to be full of confidence.

“Well, I’m Charlotte. It’s nice to meet you.” I shake his little hand.

“Anthony! Oh god, don’t scare me like that again!” A woman with short black hair runs towards us. I stand up and Jiyong puts his arm around me. She picks up Anthony and smiles at us. Her eyes suddenly widen as she actually looks at us. She must be star-struck from Jiyong.

Jiyong bows and I do the same. Once we straighten up, the mom says, “You’re from Big Bang. You have great songs.” She smiles widely at Jiyong. Jiyong bows again and gives a shy smile. The mother then slides her eyes to me. “Oh, I’m sorry about my son. I hope he didn’t cause any trouble.”

I shake my head. “No, it’s okay.” I reach over and pinch his cheek lightly. “He’s a sweetie.” Anthony’s cheeks flare up just like HyeJin’s did. His mom laughs.

“Well, we have to go.” Jiyong says as he slightly bows again.

The mother’s eyes widen. “Oh! Of course! Continue on with your date. You two are a lovely couple.”

Before I can correct her, she walks away with Anthony waving over her shoulder. Jiyong suddenly laughs. “Lovely couple indeed.” He grins. We start walking away from the playground.

I roll my eyes and look at the flowers: one purple one from HyeJin and two bright yellow ones from Anthony. I smell them. “They sure do know how to pick flowers.” I tell Jiyong.

“Are flowers the only thing it takes to win your heart over?” Jiyong asks. Before I can reply, he runs off to the grass. He plucks a flower and walks over to me. He bows and extends his hand out with the flower. With a huge smile on my face, I take the flower. Jiyong straightens up and takes my hand. “So, did I win your heart?” He asks playfully.

“No,” I say. But then I reach up and kiss his cheek. “But you still deserve at least that.” I giggle as I start skipping away, leaving a dumbstruck Jiyong in place.

“Yah!” He yells. I look behind me and see him running. I break into a sprint and we end up in the middle of the huge park. Right in the center, there’s a circle with benches on four sides. The sidewalks all connect to the circle.

I sit on the closest bench with heavy breaths. Jiyong catches up to me in a few seconds. He breathes heavily. “I was close to catching you.” He says as he takes a seat beside me. He absentmindedly places his arm behind me. I roll my eyes even though I know it’s true. We stay there for a while and catch up on our breaths. People who walk by notice Jiyong go up to him and ask for a picture. I seat aside and watch Jiyong interacting with his fans.

He looks so shy and yet he’s himself at the same time. It makes me smile. All his fans are just smiling at him like crazy with the occasional giggles. And, of course, I get the glares, weird looks, and curiosity glances. I wonder how long this is going to keep up. After a few more minutes, the fans were all satisfied and left to go back to what they were doing before.

Jiyong slumps in the bench and lets out a sigh. I nudge him and he looks at me. “Can I take a picture with you?” I pretend to be a fan girl.

“Sure.” Jiyong says with a smile. I roll my eyes. He searches for his phone in his pocket. I place my hand over his.

“I’m kidding.” I smile. Jiyong looks a little disappointed. “Come on. There’s enough time for pictures in the future.” I tell him. All he does is pout and stare at me. I roll my eyes again and let out a loud sigh. “Fine.”

His face instantly brightens up as he fishes his phone out. He eagerly scoots closer to me and slings his arm around my shoulders. He holds out his phone in front of us and I see him do the peace sign. He grins widely and I smile. We hear the phone make a “click” noise and Jiyong brings the phone up to his face. I watch his face to see the reaction.

He smiles from ear to ear. “It’s perfect!” He shouts. People passing by stop and stare. I smile to the people, embarrassed. Before I can say anything to Jiyong, he shoves the phone to my face. “Look how pretty!”

I take the phone away from his grasp and stare at the photo. “Not bad.” I smile at Jiyong. I close the phone as I stand up. Jiyong’s eyes are huge.

“Not bad? Not bad! It’s perfect!” He yells. I roll my eyes as I take his hand and pull him up. He gives me a lecture about how perfect the picture was while we walk. We were halfway done walking the whole perimeter of the park when I couldn’t take it anymore. I abruptly turn towards Jiyong and cover his mouth with my hand.

“I think I got it.” I tell him. He raises his eyebrow. “You can stop talking about it now.” He removes my hand and smiles.

Two little girls run in between Jiyong and I with ice cream cones in their hands. The mother of the two girls says a quick “sorry” and chase after them. I look around frantically. “What’s wrong?” Jiyong asks.

That’s when I find it. “Come on! Hurry!” I squeal. I link arms with Jiyong and pull him towards an ice cream stand. “Can we have some? Can we?”

Jiyong looks at his watch. His smile falls. “Sorry. Not right now.”

“Why?” I ask as I glance at his watch. It’s already 2:34 p.m. I didn’t notice how fast time flew by.

“Because we have someone else to go after this.” He brightens up. He pulls me away from the ice cream stand and I pout, as we get farther.

“Charlotte!” I hear someone scream. I look left and right until I see the little boy, Anthony, running towards me. He hugs one of my legs. “Will you play with us?”

“Um…” I bite my lip. I look ahead and see 1 girl and 2 boys looking at us. Then I turn towards Jiyong.

“You can bring your boyfriend if you want.” Anthony says, hope in his eyes.

I felt my eyes widen at the mention of the word boyfriend. “He’s not…”

“Sure.” Jiyong cuts me off. I stare at him with bigger eyes. He gives me a playful wink and crouches down to Anthony’s size. “Can I play with you guys, too?”

Anthony nods eagerly and straightens up. He holds on to my hand and starts pulling. I let myself be led, but I grab Jiyong’s wrist in time. While Anthony introduces us to his friends, I eye Jiyong.

“Why didn’t you tell him that we’re not dating?” I whisper to him.

Jiyong looks at me, a tint of teasing in his eyes. “Well, we are on a date.” He smiles.

“Why you—“

“Charwet?” Someone calls me. I look down. A little girl with big brown eyes tugs on my shirt. She’s the smallest and looks to be the youngest out of all her friends.

“Yes, sweetie?” I smile gently. She holds both of her arms up. Without a second thought, I pull her up and carry her. She says something in Korean. I glance at Jiyong.

“She’s asking if you want to play with her.” He tells me. “Go on and play.” He shoves me gently.

I glare at him and all he does is smile teasingly. “Hey, Anthony.” I sing suddenly. Jiyong turns confused. “Your Jiyong hyung says he wants to play with you.” Jiyong looks at the boys surrounding him in alarm. He then turns to glare at me. I give him an innocent smile. “Have fun.” I shout as I go sit on the grass with the little girl.

“What’s your name?” I ask her as I set her down in front of me.

“Jung Hye Mi.” She says quietly.

“That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”

She holds up three fingers. I smile at her. Jiyong pops out of nowhere and sits beside me. “You’re going to pay for that later.” He whispers in my ear.

Just then, Anthony and his two friends surround Jiyong.

“Hyung, play with us. Play with us. Please.” Anthony begs.

“What do you want to play?” Jiyong asks. All three boys hold out model cars from behind their back. “But I don’t have one.” Jiyong tells them.

One of the boys smile, he holds out another car. I laugh to myself. This is so funny. Hye Mi then tugs on my shirt again. She does some movements with her hands. Does she want to play patty-cake? I smile at her in amusement. While Jiyong makes sounds with his mouth, I play patty-cake with Hye Mi.

I don’t know how long we spent the day with the kids, but Jiyong suddenly says, “Sorry, kiddos. We have to go now.”

The kids all echo “aww…” as we stand up. I give one last smile and wave before we walk away. Then I hear all the kids’ parents calling them. Jiyong leads me towards the parked van. Once we were inside, Jiyong tells the driver. After we start moving, I ask, “Where are we going now?”

“Home.” He simply says. I look at him in disbelief. “There’s something I want you to do.” And that’s all he says about it.

“You’re great with kids.” He tells me.

“And you’re great with fans.” I reply.

He laughs. “I saw all the looks they gave you.”

“Don’t remind me.” I mutter.

He places his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I bet they’re all just curious about you. They see you with Seungri yesterday, see you with me today, and see you with Daesungie tomorrow.”

“You have a point.” I say. “They’re all going to kill me soon.”

He laughs and takes his hand back. “Well, not until we release the MV. You’re going to get famous soon.”

“Excuse me?”

“This is what YG-shi is probably planning: not only you get to know us more, but it gets all our fans curious. Since they’ve seen you with us all the time. Rumors and pictures spread everywhere, but when they ask YG-shi about this, then he’s going to say nothing about it. Which ends up making more people curious.” He smiles as if he’s figured out the hardest question ever. “But that’s what I think.”

“Don’t be so modest. You know you got it right.” I smile. He laughs and shakes his head. The van stops and we climb out. We link arms and go into the building. We decide to take the stairs and race up.

“Okay.” I breathe. “No more racing until another week.” I cough.

Jiyong smiles at me as we enter their dorm.