(So sorry this took so long, to anyone reading! I'm a little rusty, so please don't judge this chapter too roughly! I'll be back in the swing of things before you know it!)

            She probably wouldn’t have woken up for a long time, but with the sounds of soft footsteps around the room, Ally’s eyes found themselves opening sleepily. She her stomach lazily, burying her face deep into the pillow she was resting on. Though, it was quite surprising when she was hit with the faint scent of cologne and after-shave. Ally frowned in thought, turning over and sitting up in bed. That’s when she noticed she was in a robe, her now dry bathing suit underneath.

            “That’s right… That whole embarrassing fiasco happened…” Ally thought to herself, her face growing red at the thought. “How am I going to face anyone now?”

            Continuing to look at her robe, Ally’s eyes widened as they reached her legs. They were covered in bandages and from the shine on a few of her scrapes that weren’t covered, she could tell there was some time of ointment on them. Just as she was wondering who could have possibly dressed her wounds, gotten her in a robe, and put in bed, she remembered. Changmin.

            Just as she was about to get up to find him, she heard the rustling of feet against the floor again, and craned her head to see out onto the balcony, and had to place a hand over to prevent a chuckle from escaping her lips.

            There, dancing on the balcony to his room, was Changmin. If he were dancing to just any average song, it wouldn’t be that funny. But, Changmin was dancing his heart out to “Step” by Kara. His hips were flying every which way, and his arms waving in the air to match. Quietly, making as little noise as possible, Ally stood up and walked over to the balcony door.

            “You need to move your hips more,” Ally said quietly, “You don’t look girly enough.” Changmin jumped, turning around so fast that his arm slammed into the railing. He knelt down, gripping his arm as Ally sunk down next to him.

            “I’m sorry!” she cried, “I’m sorry! I did not mean for that to happen, obviously…” Changmin groaned, shaking his head.

            “It’s okay… It’s okay…” he replied, sighing as he stood upright and Ally rose to meet him. “You’re finally awake, huh? I’ve been practicing since I put you in bed.”

            “How long was I asleep for?” Ally responded, a small pout forming on her lips. Changmin shook his head.

            “I don’t know. You feel asleep in the shower and stayed asleep for a few hours.” He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arm, looking disinterested. “You were pretty out of it.” Ally blushed slightly in response. She looked down to her legs and held one slightly up, pointing to it.

            “Did you do this?” she asked, picking her head up to look at Changmin with a curious expression. His ears reddened slightly as he looked out at the horizon.

            “Yeah. They looked painful.”

            “And you took me out of the shower, put me in a robe, and laid me in your bed? Sounds dirty…”

            “Hey!” Changmin exclaimed, the pink on his ears spreading a bit to his cheeks.

            “I’m joking! Calm down!” Ally quickly responded, a bright smile on her lips. She shook her head and lightly punched Changmin on the shoulder. “Thank you. I’m sorry about my meltdown. It’s embarrassing and won’t happen again.” He shook his head, returning the light punch.

            “Forget about it. It’s fine. Just be more careful.” Changmin turned back to look at her and a smile found itself on his lips. “What were you saying about my hips not moving enough?” Ally laughed, immediately demonstrating how she thought the dance should go.

            “See? My hips are moving more!” she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Changmin, who rolled his eyes in response.

            “I’m better at ‘Be My Baby’,” he replied, “Especially the part where Yoobin is rapping.” A grin broke out on Changmin’s face. “Kwon’s always the best, though.” Ally laughed, shaking her head.

            “I’m sure. Jo Kwon is always perfect at that sort of thing,” she responded with a grin, and Changmin’s face twisted in thought.

            “Hey,” he said suddenly. He tilted his head to the side in silence, and out of the blue lifted his arm and pointed it at Ally. “You’re my younger sister now.” Ally nodded in response, her expression maintaining a sense of calm until she fully understood his words.

            “Excuse me?” she asked, bursting out into a fit of laughter. Changmin grumbled.

            “Hey, stop laughing,” He commanded, reaching over to cover , though Ally easily evaded him. “You obviously need someone to protect you. You’re a mess!” Ally continued laughing, shaking her head.

            “Changmin…” she managed to say before falling into a fit of giggles again, “You’re crazy.” Standing on her tippy-toes, Ally rustled his hair a few times before turning and leaving the room.

            The next few days were a mystery to those around them. It seemed as though Ally and Changmin never had a stable relationship. First, she avoided him like the plague. Next, she was singing romantic ballads with him and running through the halls at night. Next, they were fighting as if they had hated each other for years. Changmin was then ignoring Ally as if his life depended on it, and suddenly the two were friendlier than they ever had been before. Wherever Ally went, Changmin was soon to follow, watching her from afar. Whenever Changmin went to cook, Ally waddled after him asking if there was anything she could do to help. It seemed that the two of them were suddenly best friends. But to others, it seemed as if they were slightly closer than that. Rumors began to form.

            Ally was completely oblivious to the rumors until Cindy and Ezabel came trotting up to her after a volleyball game on the beach.

            “Hey,” Ezabel said, poking Ally on the side. “Why did we have to find out from other people that you were dating Changmin. I thought you were done having a crush on him!”

            “I’m surprised he’s so willing to date a fan. You’re lucky!” Cindy replied, sighing as if in deep thought.

            “Funny joke, you two,” Ally responded, laughing off their statements as she grabbed a towel and wiped the sand off of her legs.

            “We’re not joking, though,” Cindy said softly, plopping down in the sand. “That’s what everyone is saying…” Ally’s eyes widened before she began giggling.

            “That’s ridiculous. He’s not like that with me at all.”

            “Then what is it? I thought he was ignoring you? Did something happen when he took you inside after that day on the beach?” Ezabel asked, her eyes widening in speculation. Ally laughed, looking up to the clear blue sky as the wind blew her hair behind her.

            “Did it? I’m not sure,” Ally teased in response, shrugging her shoulders. “He said I’m his sister now. It’s nothing more… I guess he’s always wanted a sibling or something? Or maybe I’m just so pathetic that he feels the need to watch over me.”

            “I heard that Kwon seemed mad when someone told him the rumor,” Cindy said quietly from her spot in the sand. “Though I can’t really picture Jo Kwon angry…” Ally shrugged.

            “I doubt it, but I’ll go check with Changmin to see if he can stop these rumors. He went in to get some snacks for us, I think…” Ally said before trotting off into the house, peeking into door after door to try to find Changmin. She called his name a few times, but was not expecting to find what she did.

            “I know they’re rumors, but you can’t let these things continue! Regardless of where we are, we’re still idols and we still have images to protect!”

            “Kwon-ah, you know that I didn’t do anything, so why are you scolding me? Are you telling me I’m somehow damaging our image by being nice to fans?”

            “Hyung, you know I didn’t mean that. You’re not thinking of the consequences. What if this gets out when we get home? Everyone will be all over your ‘mystery beach girlfriend’ and it might damage the success of our concert…”

            “You may be our leader, but you can’t tell me that I can’t be nice to one of our fans. You have tons of fans. You’re the most popular out of the four. This is the first person that seems to really have stuck by me. You don’t know what it’s like and it’s not fair for you to tell me what to do in a situation you’ve never been in.”

            “I’ve worked too hard for this all to go down hill because of one of your mishaps. You may be the hyung but you have a long way to go before you understand what the rest of us went through, what I went through.”

            At this, Ally turned to walk away from the door where the fighting cries were being heard. Now, it was quite obvious to her what Jo Kwon was like angry, and she really didn’t care to hear more about it. Though, her plans to escape before anyone knew she was listening didn’t go so well. The second she turned around, the door Ally was standing in front of slammed open and whacked her right in the head. She hissed in pain, immediately falling to the ground and holding her head. The door slammed shut behind her and she looked up to find Changmin staring down at her, his eyes wide in surprise. Though, he didn’t look shocked for too long before he covered his mouth, smiling. Without saying a word, he took her hand and pulled her to her feet, and then into the kitchen. He left her there before returning after a moment with a first aid kit in tow.

            “Maybe you need someone to protect you from me,” Changmin finally said, shaking his head as he laughed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.” He carefully opened the first aid kit and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Sit still.”

            “I’m sorry for being in the wrong place at the wrong time!” Ally responded, to which Changmin placed a finger to and shushed her.

            “Stop talking!” he said hurriedly, pulling his hand back from Ally’s lips as she nodded. “Don’t nod, either. You keep moving!” Ally frowned, sticking her tongue out, and Changmin laughed. “Your forehead is bleeding a tiny bit. I have to clean it up. It was my fault, after all.” Ally merely smiled in response, and Changmin began cleaning up her cut just as he said he would.

            He was almost done when footsteps were heard entering the kitchen, and Jo Kwon walked right past the two. He froze, staring for a moment at Changmin before his gaze shifted to Ally.

            “Don’t speak. You’re going to move and mess everything up,” Changmin ordered quietly to Ally, but just loud enough for Jo Kwon to hear as well. Changmin knew he was there. Ally looked to sadly over to Changmin, before turning her eyes back to Jo Kwon. Kwon shook his head before smiling apologetically at Ally. Ally nervously smiled back, before Jo Kwon cast one more gaze at Changmin, shook his head, and left the house with the quiet shut of the door.

            “All done!” Changmin said, and he moved his hands from Ally’s hair and gazed at his “work”. “You can talk and move and whatever now. I put a bandage on it for a little so sand doesn’t get in.” Changmin flicked Ally’s cheek softly, to which she then held jokingly as if in excruciating pain. “I’d say you owe me but I was the one that hit you with the door. Then again, you were outside it spying…”

            “I wasn’t spying!” Ally cried, mock-glaring at Changmin. “I was looking for you and then I happened to hear you two behind the door. I was walking away when you so rudely hit me with the door.” Changmin laughed, shaking his head.

            “You’re ridiculous. I didn’t get anything to eat yet. Help me cut up fruit,” Changmin replied, shaking his head. “You don’t exactly at it anymore.”

            Although it seemed as though no one else noticed, it was quite obvious to Ally that Changmin and Jo Kwon were doing their best to avoid each other. Whenever it was time to eat, they took the seats furthest apart from each other. Where there used to be brotherly banter was left with complete silence. The only people who seemed to notice besides Ally were Jinwoon and Seulong, who seemed to be trying their hardest to make it seem as though nothing was wrong.

            “Hey! You’re Ally, right?” one girl called to Ally while she was on the beach one day. “The leader of Changmin’s team?” Ally laughed softly, shaking her head while covering .

            “Not at all. I mean, I am Ally,” she replied, “But I’m far from the leader… Wouldn’t Changmin be the leader?” The girl shrugged.

            “I’m from Kwonnie’s team. We want to challenge you to a game,” she replied, looking disinterested yet there was a hint of fire in her eyes. “Kwonnie told me to tell you.”

            “Me?” Ally asked, her eyes widening. “Why me? Why not Changmin?” The girl shrugged.

            “I don’t know. But Jo Kwon said either we play soccer or we do girl group dances…” she responded, a small smile gracing her lips. “Though, I think Changmin has the advantage in soccer and Kwon has the advantage in girl group dances.” Ally laughed, nodding in agreement.

            “True. But, I think girl group dances would be more fun, right?” Ally asked, and the girl couldn’t help but smile and nod.

            “Definitely. Who wouldn’t want to see more of 2AM’s famous parodies?”

            “I know I want to see. We should tell the others to compete, too, and choose first, second, third, and fourth place. Whoever wins first place wins the entire thing and gets a win for their team,” Ally explained, “and then whichever one of our two teams wins gets a little personal victory, right?”

            So it was settled. The games would begin. After Jinwoon and Seulong’s teams were informed, the teams split up into different rooms in the house and softly began discussing strategy and song. Though a lot of people on Team Changmin were dead-set on doing some really popular dances, it was obvious it was going to be really hard to learn a whole new dance as a team by nightfall, when the competition would be held. It was hard to figure out what song to dance to, but after much fighting and intense discussion, the group decided on “Roly Poly” by T-ara.

            The team worked for hours to perfect their performance as much as possible. It was decided each member of T-ara’s part would be assigned to around two people, and one person in each small group would sing. It took a lot of work to get through Changmin’s part as Hwayoung, as everyone burst out laughing as he would sing, “I like this, like that, yeah.” It was also hard to learn the dance moves, and no matter how hard she tried, Ally could not make her arms move quick enough. In the end, they settled on a lot of things, but the performance seemed to be a good one. Right before preparing to perform, the group split up and ran around the house, searching desperately for clothes similar to T-ara’s. Although in the end, the group looked incredibly silly, the one who looked the silliest was definitely Changmin.

            “Why do you even own clothes like this?” Ally managed to sputter out before falling under fits of uncontrollable laughter, the rest of their team to follow. Changmin was wearing high-waist dark skinny jeans, as well as a bright yellow dress shirt. He struck a girly pose, placing one hand on his hip and holding the other above his head, and the group went crazy. Ally stood up and took the bow she was wearing off of her head and placed it on Changmin’s. “I think it suits you better than it suits me, huh?” she said, laughing. “How come we aren’t doing ‘Step’? Didn’t you know the whole dance already?”

            “I was practicing for our upcoming concert. The other members know it all, too,” he replied with a shrug of his arms.

            “Aww, you must be happy you get to sing one of Jiyoung’s songs, right?” Ally teased, poking his side. Changmin rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face.

            “No,” he said, trying to keep a serious face but it was obvious from the smile peeking out from under his frown that he was lying.

            “And you said you wanted her as your little sister. You’re gross,” Ally responded, laughing before a sudden realization hit her. Her smile faded and her eyes widened in shock. Hadn’t Changmin just a few days before said he would be her big brother, and she his little sister? He said this to Jiyoung when he actually liked her, so does that mean…

            “Stop spacing out! We’re going on now!” Changmin hissed to Ally in a hushed voice as the rest of their team giggled in anticipation.

            Ally, no matter how much she wanted to, couldn’t concentrate the entire dance. Changmin’s voice telling her “You’re my younger sister now” rang through her head incessantly and no matter how much she tried to focus only on the dance, his statement was the only thing she could think of. When her time came to sing, Ally had been so focused on the issue at hand that she completely screwed up her words, and ended up singing lyrics from the verse before. She saw Changmin shoot her a look, either he was annoyed or concerned, she couldn’t tell, from next to her and she tried her hardest not to pout. Now she was bringing their performance down with her! Luckily, that was her only mistake and otherwise the performance went flawlessly. When the song ended, Ally finally realized how much everyone was laughing, and Changmin looked slightly embarrassed.

            “Ah, we’re ballad singers. What am I doing?” he muttered to himself, and those around him laughed.

            “Oppa! What possessed you to dress like that?” someone asked, and Changmin laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you were thinking. Why do you have clothes like that?”

            “I don’t know what I like seeing more,” one girl cried out, “your chocolate abs or you dressed like this!” The crowd erupted into laughter as Changmin rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, his ears beginning to turn pink.

            Jinwoon’s group performance was next, and his group performed a hilarious version of Kara’s “Mister”, no doubt chosen due to his close friendship with Nicole. His whole team wore white tee-shirts and baggy paints, some joined with suspenders hanging down just like the actual clothing Kara wears during performances. Of course, Jinwoon danced to all of Nicole’s parts perfectly and got the most cheers when he did the famous “ dance” in front of s and all of the IAMs.

            Seulong’s team chose “Genie” by Girls’ Generation, and it was quite a sight to see, all of his teammates dressed in pure white, some wearing sailor suits. They looked like exact opposites of Changmin’s team, while one was splattered with fun color the other was officially clean in white. It seemed most of the team had previously learned the dance, and the really good dancers stayed in front while those that were unsure stayed hidden in the back, quite good strategy. They had perfected the famous leg flick, and every time Seulong executed it, the cheers were deafening. He even danced to Hyoyeon’s solo, causing everyone to practically die of laughter.

            Finally, it was Kwon’s team’s turn to perform. They, too, came out in outfits filled with bright neon colors that somehow matched quite well together. The whole room began cheering their hearts out when the music began to play, “Breathe” by Miss A. Jo Kwon led his team extremely well; It seemed as though the whole team knew the dance inside and out. They, too, had members from their team singing along to the track and Jo Kwon definitely pulled out all of the stops with his incredible kkap. He didn’t hesitate once to over-exaggerate a move here and there or shake his hips a little more than he needed to. Of course, when he did this, the screams in the room were the loudest of the day. Kkap Kwon never disappoints!

            When it was time to decide, the teams (reluctantly, for a few) came up with the final scores by voting and once tallied up, all of the teams sat in the living room as Seulong stood up, ready to make the final announcements. The room immediately silenced as everyone turned to him, waiting anxiously for the results.

            “In fourth place was Changmin’s team with ‘Roly-Poly’, in third place was Jinwoon’s team with ‘Mister’, in second place was my team with ‘Genie’, and it’s no surprise Kwonnie’s team won first with ‘Breathe’.”

            The whole room came to life with a variety of different cries. Jo Kwon’s team began cheering out of pure happiness, all jumping and hugging each other as they cried Jo Kwon’s name as a victory chant. Seulong’s team cheered as well, though a few of them complained about only coming in second. Jinwoon’s team was generally in good spirits, laughing at how they thought they had done better than just third place. But Changmin’s team? It was a disaster. People were screaming out in anger, and some were claiming the votes were rigged. Changmin tore off his bow in anger and threw it back to Ally, who caught it and immediately yelled at him for throwing it at her. The two began arguing, and it took a few moments before everyone realized just how stupid their fighting was, and everyone in the room was laughing.

            Through the laughter and cheers (as well as many comments on the outfits), Ally turned to see Jo Kwon walk up to Changmin, his hand extended and a slight smile on his face.

            “You guys did well,” Jo Kwon said, “I’m really surprised you only got fourth.” Changmin hesitated for a moment before shaking Jo Kwon’s hand, and then pulled him in for a quick hug.

            “Yeah, me too.”

            “Sorry.”

            “Same.”

            Ally felt like “aww-ing” at the bromance she had just witnessed, but the moment was cut short when Jo Kwon walked over to her and put an arm around her.

            “We’ll just have to be friends now, too, right?” Kwon asked her, and Ally laughed, shaking her head.

            “Sure, why not?” she responded, and Kwon grinned, pulling her into the room to introduce her to formally introduce her to his team’s representative who had challenged her before.

            Just as she was being whisked away, she turned her head to catch Changmin’s gaze.

            And they smiled.