“How about we take a break before the next game?” Jo Kwon suddenly spoke up, trying to raise his voice above the other two team’s celebration as he easily assumed the leadership position. “Everyone’s a bit tired, I think.”

     “We’ll go off and celebrate for a little, then,” Seulong teased, causing Jinwoon to begin laughing and high-fiving his fellow member. Changmin groaned from his position on the couch.

     “Just get out of here already!” he hissed at them, sounding annoyed. It was obvious from his facial expression, however, that losing didn’t really matter too much since it made half of 2AM very happy. A smile was tugging on the corners of his lips and his eyes twinkled as they set on Jinwoon and Seulong.

     Ally turned and watched him in admiration. While being on the island, she hadn’t gotten many opportunities to see how 2AM interacts with each other. While she had Changmin care for her in many ways on the island, it was something entirely different to see the way he looked at Jinwoon and Seulong in their moments of happiness. It was evident in his gaze that he was proud to have them as partners, and he didn’t need huge acts to show it. Just the way he smiled at them was enough to prove that.

     “You really love them, huh?” Ally muttered softly before she realized she was thinking aloud.

     “What?” Changmin exclaimed, turning to give her an incredulous look. “The losers that just beat us? No way!” Ally laughed and couldn’t help but lightly hit his arm.

     “You’re too cute,” Ally sputtered out in between giggles. She moved her hands from Changmin’s arm and placed them on her laps when she noticed he was smirking. “What?”

     “I’m cute?” he asked, raising his eyebrow slightly. “I don’t think people usually use that word to describe me.” He chuckled slightly and tilted his head towards where Jinwoon was walking away with Seulong. “Are you sure you aren’t talking about Jinwoon? Girls say he’s cute all the time.”

     “Jinwoon’s adorable,” Ally agreed teasingly, laughing as Changmin pretended to be jealous.

     “I’m losing my fan to Jinwoon!” he moaned, placing the back of his hand to his forehead and feigning a sob. Ally laughed and hit his arm again, shaking her head as she stood up from the couch.

     “We should both get ready for the next game,” Ally said to Changmin, stretching her arms as she spoke.

     “Aren’t we doing the picture next?” Changmin responded, tilting his head to the site a bit. “What preparation is there? Stretching?”

     “No! We need to get our bathing suits on. We’re playing in the ocean!” Ally responded, rolling her eyes. “You were there when we planned this. Way to pay attention!”

     “Okay, so I need to get dressed, but why are you getting up? You’re not playing.” Ally looked offended, pouting slightly.

     “And why would I not be playing?”

     “You’re afraid of the ocean! And if you think I’m going to let you back in there after what happened last time, you’re crazy.” A small smile formed on Ally’s lips and when Changmin noticed how thankful she looked for his concern, he turned away with his ears turning slightly red. “I don’t want to have to go catch you again.”

     “Just go get dressed,” Ally responded softly, a smile remaining on her face even after she turned and went back to her room to change.

     While putting on her bathing suit, Ally sighed, deep in thought. Although she did her best to not react to it, she hadn’t even realized she had called Changmin cute. It slipped out, cute being a compliment she uses for almost everyone in a way that it became second nature. This would have usually been easy to explain to Changmin, besides the fact that she was still so flustered from him touching her cheek in Jinwoon’s room and now having to give him that stupid back hug. She knew that liking him in a way different than friends do was completely out of the question, but it was hard to forget such things when everything he says makes her realize more and more why he stands out in her eyes from the other idols.

     The thought was still making her squirm by the time Ally arrived at the beach. Mostly everyone had arrived before Ally had gotten there, but surprisingly as soon as she walked up to the beach, Jo Kwon ran up to greet her and began asking her about where she had been hiding and how many signs she found in the previous game. Ally answered his questions tentatively as Kwon led her over to the rest of the crowd. Although she enjoyed Kwon’s company and was a huge fan of his, every time he has spoken to her since she witnessed his fight with Changmin, she got a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach and she didn’t know why.

     “Kwon-ah, are you going to hold her hand? She’s more trouble than she’s worth,” Changmin commented, popping out of no where and causing Ally to squeak in surprise. Jo Kwon looked momentarily disappointed.

     “You’re going to lose fans if you talk to them that way,” he lightly scolded, but Ally giggled as Changmin ruffled her hair.

     “She already likes Jinwoon better,” Changmin sighed, and Ally laughed again.

     “Did I hear that I’m stealing fans?” Jinwoon exclaimed excitedly from afar, and Jo Kwon couldn’t help but laugh. At that moment, a few members of Kwon’s team came over and asked him to talk strategy alone with the rest of the team. He shot a reluctant gaze over at Ally and Changmin, a look that did not go unnoticed by the former, before a bright smile replaced it. Ally tried hard not to frown, hoping he wasn’t still upset at her. Jo Kwon lightly patted Ally on the top of her head before running off to join his teammates. As soon as Kwon was out of earshot, Changmin instantly turned to Ally with a stern yet sympathetic expression.

     “You can’t go in the water. You’re going to freak out again,” he said softly, so that no one else could learn of her embarrassing spill.

     “Well, really, I can do whatever I want,” Ally started, a pout gracing her lips. “We’re not going in very far. Just up to our knees. That doesn’t scare me too badly. Plus, I want to play.” Changmin opened his mouth to respond, but one glance at Ally’s determined eyes was enough to shut him up. He stared at her in thought for a moment before sighing with a shake of his head.

     “You leave me no choice. I have no other way to convince you now…” Changmin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to add to the suspense. Ally frowned, beginning to feel a tiny bit on the nervous side. “In order to convince you to not go back into the ocean, I’m going to take off my shirt.”

     Ally couldn’t help bursting out into laughter as she knelt down in the sand and began clapping, her laughing habit. Although Changmin was half-joking, that left him half-serious, and that made it all the more hilarious. When she realized that he hadn’t waited for a response and began taking off the thin, white tee-shirt he was wearing, Ally jumped up and pulled on Changmin’s arm.

     “Stop!” she exclaimed through laughter. “You think that’s going to work on me? All of us here have seen you shirtless almost as many times as we’ve seen you with a shirt on. All the magazine shoots are of you without a shirt!”

     “It’s better in person! Don’t think I didn’t see you get all flustered last time we were in the ocean. I did!” Changmin said quietly to Ally, causing her whole face to flush a bright pink color. Changmin got the reaction he was aiming for, and grinned as he continued trying to remove his shirt.

     “Don’t think you’re the only one who can do that!” Ally hissed, pouting at him through her ruby cheeks as she gripped at her own tee-shirt that was covering up her bikini underneath.

     Changmin’s reaction was immediate. His eyes widened and he grabbed Ally’s arms with cat-like reflexes, moving her hands from her shirt and smoothing it back down. He shook his head, muttering under his breath about how indecent it was for a girl to say such a thing, before gripping her hand with his and pulling her to the water, where everyone was beginning to get together for the start of the game.

     The game was simple in words, yet once in action it proved quite difficult. With one person manning the camera, the participating inhabitants of the island went in the water (up to about half-way to their knees) and did their best to fit in the area of the photo as the cameraman took a picture. Those following the certain credentials per each round and shown in the picture added a point for their team.

     At first, most of the people participating laughed at the simplicity of the game, they soon realized how difficult it actually was! First off, they had no idea if they were in the frame or not until after the picture was taken. Secondly, the majority of each team was playing the game. With that many people, it was hard to fit into the space of the photo with all the shoving and pushing going on! People were flying into the water every which way and shoving others back to try to get into the frame. Of course, no one was doing anything out of spite and there were members of each team keeping watch to make sure everyone stayed safe.

     Although he didn’t need to, as their team already had appointed a “life guard”, Changmin kept watch during the rounds the 2AM members didn’t play. He acted as if he was intent on giving his team instructions, and did his best to help them all fit in to get more points. Ally wasn’t totally sure, however, that this was his only interest. When she would occasionally turn around to watch as Changmin gave instructions, she would meet his eyes staring directly at her. She wasn’t sure why he was watching her until she had fallen in the water as a wave came and splashed her back. No sooner had she hit the sand had Changmin been at her side and pulling her arms up and hurriedly asking if she was all right and if she wanted to stop playing. Ally was a bit flustered to realize that Changmin was worried about her, and couldn’t help but smile to herself. She wasn’t used to being taken care of, but these acts of kindness from the oldest 2AM member reassured Ally that no matter what Changmin said, in some way or another the two of them were friends.

     The game lasted around fifteen minutes, having about one round per minute. Each team did their best to try to succeed. Seulong and Jinwoon, being the tallest, stood ground and held on to their teammates to prevent them from falling and tried their best to gently push them to the front.  Jo Kwon, being the shortest member, was able to weasel through the mass of people to the front and tried to make sure he stayed there while the picture was taken. His team also tried to form barriers, holding on to each others’ hands and pushing through so their faces would definitely all be seen. Changmin, being one of the strongest 2AM members, tried put smaller girls on his back so they would appear over everyone’s heads. A few times, he even pushed them forward as hard as he could to see if they’d pummel through to the front, though that resulted mostly in trips and spills than anything else.

     Although each team did well, everyone was soaked to the bone at the end and the cameramen and lifeguards tallied the scores carefully, checking it over twice for mistakes. Jo Kwon tiptoed over to them many times to try to sneak a peak at the results, but was always caught just before he was able to read the numbers on the sheet of paper. This didn’t stop him, however, from telling Seulong that he had seen the numbers and his team had come in last while his own came in first. For some reason or another, Seulong believed him and spread the news to Jinwoon, who whispered the news to Changmin. The IAMs on the island were thoroughly confused at the disappointed expressions of the members, excluding Kwon, until the scores were announced and Jinwoon’s team had won. Immediately, Jinwoon cheered while Seulong and Changmin jokingly shoved around Jo Kwon, scolding him for tricking them while the playful leader just laughed and joined his team in a fit of giggles. Jo Kwon’s team did finish in second place, however, and Seulong’s team finished in third. That left Changmin’s team in dead last, probably due to their method of getting more people in the picture. All it really did was show of Changmin’s strength, not the teamwork or skill of the rest of the members.

     As the celebrations (in Jo Kwon’s team’s case) and chatter related to the game, and the Running Man balls had already been given out, everyone began filing into the house to get changed out of their wet clothing. Ally turned to follow, jumping in at the very end of the line, before she felt a hand lightly grasp her wrist. She looked followed the hand on her wrist up to the eyes of Changmin, his other fingers to his mouth as he shushed her to be quiet. Turning away from Ally, Changmin began walking towards the edge of the trees and away from the house and once he realized she wasn’t making any motion to leave, let go of Ally’s hand.

     “Want to go for a walk?” Changmin asked her, and Ally couldn’t help but laugh.

     “A little belated to ask me that, since you already pulled me away, but sure. Why?”

     “I haven’t gone on one in a while.” Changmin shoved his hands in his bathing suit’s pockets and looked up at the darkening sky as he walked. “I guess we’re probably not going to win when they announce the results, huh?”

     “Probably not… Jinwoon’s team has more Running Balls than anyone else. I’m sure they’re going to win. But hey, we might get lucky?” Ally looked over at Changmin, a hopeful yet determined expression on her face as she pumped a fist in the air. “Changmin’s team, fighting!” Changmin chuckled, and reached over and grabbed Ally’s cheek, pinching it softly.

     “You dork,” he commented, tugging a bit before releasing Ally’s cheek with a laugh. Ally pouted, holding her hand to her cheek.

     “I don’t think you’re in any place to call me a dork… Have you ever seen yourself on TV? Really? And you think I’m a dork?” Ally shook her head. “You’re the biggest dork out of all of 2AM!”

     “Now you’re just straight up lying!” Changmin retorted loudly, taking his hands out of his pockets to cross his arms. “I’m in no way the dorkiest. The other members are weirdos, too.”

     “So you admit that you’re a weirdo?” Ally countered, looking at Changmin curiously. He frowned, silent for a moment as he thought back to what he just said. When he realized what he had just admitted, he groaned in frustration and ran a hand through his damp hair.

     “Ah, just forget it!” he muttered, frustrated and flustered. Ally giggled, as she couldn’t help but find this side of Changmin unbearably adorable.

     “Ah, you cutie!” she exclaimed, jumping up so she could ruffle her hands through Changmin’s hair and pinch his cheek as he had just done to her. He frowned, knocking her hand away, clearly slightly embarrassed by her mockery. Ally giggled again, and then all was quiet.

     The two continued to walk down the beach in silence, Changmin gazing at the sky and Ally gazing at her feet as she walked, occasionally bending down to pick up seashells. Without quite realizing it, Ally had begun to hum as she gazed at the shells she had picked up along the way, and Changmin listened for a minute before interrupting her.

     “Jo Kwon recorded that song once with Wax,” he commented quietly, and Ally looked over at him, surprised at the sound of his voice and embarrassed she had been humming aloud.

     “Alex sang it once with Luna from f(x), too. I have both of them on my iPod,” she responded, thoughtful for a moment before adding, “I like Jo Kwon’s version better, but let’s just keep that between us.”

     “Why? You aren’t a proud IAM?” Changmin teased, and Ally blushed, shaking her head.

     “Obviously I am. It’s just… Alex is…” Ally took a deep breath as she stuttered out her words, clearly embarrassed at what she was about to say. Changmin looked at her curiously and stopped walking to stare at her, the only sound remaining being the crashing of the waves on the shore.

     That didn’t last long though, as all of a sudden the sky seemed to open up and huge droplets of rain began pouring down on the two. Ally held her hands up to cover her face and Changmin muttered some unintelligible word as he made a visor with his hands.

     “It hurts!” Ally yelled over the rain, surprised at how intense the sudden downpour actually was. Thunder drowned out Changmin’s reply, and Ally cocked her head to the side in confusion as she tried to read his lips. When she stepped closer to Changmin, close enough where he could speak in her ear in a way she would hear over the storm, he took a hasty step back and watched her in confusion. Ally pouted, their silent exchange more confusing than helpful at that point. Before she could try to speak to him again, Changmin turned away from Ally and gripped her hand. He only gazed back at her once before running off back towards the house while holding her hand. Changmin was much faster than her, and he had to slow down once he noticed he was practically dragging Ally along behind him. The two had walked a considerably far distance from the house, however, and running happened to not be one of Ally’s fortes. She halted to a stop just as the house came back into view. She knew if she spoke, Changmin wouldn’t hear her, so there was no use explaining how tired she was. Ally bent down and gripped her knees for support, trying to catch her breath without taking in a mouthful of water.

     Changmin must have noticed how fatigued Ally had become, because when she looked up Changmin was bent over facing away from her, his arms out behind him. He was asking her to get on his back the rest of the way. Ally didn’t have much time to contemplate this, as Changmin gripped her arm from behind and pulled her towards him. It seemed he was much more urgent to get out of the rain than she was! Ally had no choice; she carefully hoisted herself up on Changmin’s back and got a good grip on his neck as his hands curled around her thighs to keep her steady. She was glad at that moment Changmin couldn’t see the huge blush on her cheeks.

     It was surprising just how strong Changmin actually was. He ran back to the house so fast that Ally was actually completely terrified, gripping on to Changmin’s neck tightly and crying out into his shoulder, her head buried against him. It felt like riding on some type of stallion without a saddle, knowing at any minute you could go flying off… But just as it was scary, it was just a tiny bit entertaining, though. But just a tiny bit. Ally wouldn’t admit to any more.

     When the two arrived back at the house, Changmin carefully let Ally off at the doorstep and held the door open for her. As soon as they walked through the door, Changmin gripped his knees in the same fashion Ally had done before and panted, trying to catch his breath. He seemed so tired, which was understandable considering how much he had just done in one burst! Ally frowned, feeling bad she had to make Changmin carry her like she did. It wasn’t his fault she was slow, yet he was the one paying for it. Tentatively, she placed her hand on Changmin’s back and in a hushed tone asked if he was alright. Changmin only needed a few more seconds to catch his breath before picking up his head and smiling.

     “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault we got caught in the rain.” Ally opened to retort that it was indeed her fault he was as tired as he was, but Changmin spoke again before she could get the words out. “Maybe we should take a shower… We must look horrible right about now.” Ally smiled ever so slightly as she removed her hand from Changmin’s back and nodded. Without waiting for him to say anything else, she slipped of her wet shoes and hopped up the stairs to her room, and then to the shower.

     It was surprising for Ally to return back downstairs to find Changmin sitting in the kitchen, placing his then-finished bowl of cereal in the sink.

     “Cereal? I thought Koreans don’t usually eat Western breakfast foods or something like that?” Ally asked, walking over to his side and pushing her wet hair out of her face. Changmin chuckled softly, lightly pushing Ally’s head with a closed fist.

     “That doesn’t mean we can’t occasionally enjoy cereal. Plus, I lived in Canada, in case you didn’t know. Cereal isn’t some foreign thing to me.” Ally placed her hands up defensively.

     “Alright, alright… Calm down. Didn’t mean to offend you,” she replied jokingly, and Changmin laughed again. “I guess everyone is asleep?”

     “Yeah, I guess we were playing longer than I thought,” Changmin responded, trying to keep his voice down. His face contorted into discomfort momentarily, as he turned away from Ally and coughed into his arm. Her eyes widened and she reached over to Changmin and grabbed his arm.

     “Are you sick?” she wondered worriedly, reaching up to place a hand to Changmin’s forehead and then moved it to his cheek.

     “I felt a cold coming on, so I guess the running out there didn’t help much…” he said quietly, shrugging as his ears turned slightly red in embarrassment. Ally turned away from Changmin to rummage through the kitchen until she found cold medicine and some Korean herbal medicine for colds. She was about to hand them to Changmin before she noticed his completely soaked hair. She sighed, shaking her head.

     “Well, that wet head isn’t helping much!” she insisted, beckoning Changmin to follow her as she took his medicine up to his room. When the two got there, Ally placed everything at his bedside table and sat Changmin down on his bed. “Take those. I’ll be right back.”

     “But wait!” He called after her, “Aren’t you hungry?” Ally paused and turned back to look at Changmin. “You didn’t eat so odds are you’ll end up hungry in the middle of the night without any food.” Ally couldn’t help but crack a small smile as she shook her head at him.

     “I’m not hungry,” she responded, laughing silently that he was worrying over her when he was the one that was getting sick!

     Hurriedly, Ally ran from Changmin’s room and found a towel closet, took out a few dry towels, and scurried her way back. Changmin had finished his medicine while Ally had been fetching the towels, and he was then lying on his bed.

     “No! You’ll get the pillow wet!” Ally exclaimed, hurrying over to pull Changmin back into a sitting position. He frowned at her, obviously not seeing what the big deal was. Ally sighed at him before climbing up on the bed in front of Changmin and standing up on her knees. She scooted closer to Changmin, who had his legs crossed and was looking up at Ally curiously. She carefully lifted one of the towels up and placed it on Changmin’s head and began to softly rub, drying his hair herself.

     “If you aren’t feeling well already, having wet hair won’t do anything to fix it. It might make it worse, so for you to want to go to sleep in wet hair was silly,” Ally said softly, trying not sound frustrated at Changmin’s lack of self-care.

     “You don’t think I already know that?” he countered quickly, but quieted down immediately after as Ally continued to gently dry Changmin’s hair. Ally was surprised when Changmin had nothing else to say, having expected a witty comeback to Ally’s passive-aggressive nag. She slowly leaned herself back to a sitting position in the bed so that she and Changmin were closer to eye-to-eye. When her curious gaze met Changmin’s, the silence in the air suddenly became thick and Ally found herself incredibly nervous. Changmin said nothing, but did not lower his gaze either. He stared right into Ally’s eyes, his facial expression unreadable, as she continued to dry his hair. Ally wanted to say something, wanted to break the silence, but Changmin’s expression and stare paralyzed her, and made her feel like she could do nothing but look at him right back.

     The butterflies Ally was getting in her stomach must have made her falter a bit in her hair-rubbing, because she momentarily halted her activity before realizing she had done so, and quickly picked up the pace. Changmin let it go for a moment before he couldn’t help but burst out into laughter. Ally dropped the towel from his head and pouted at him, her face bright red.

     “Why are you all embarrassed? You’re just drying my hair!” he exclaimed, laughing through his words. “Plus, you started rubbing my head so hard! Are you trying to kill me with the towel or something?” Ally looked down at her lap, embarrassed. Before she could respond, Changmin shot her a warm smile before grabbing her shoulders and turning Ally’s back to himself. “It’s your turn now!”

     Changmin leaned over and picked up the towel that Ally had previously discarded and placed it in on her head as he began to lightly rubbing it through her hair.

     “Girls’ hair doesn’t work like guys’ does. You can’t just rub long hair and expect it not to get all knotty!” Ally giggled, reaching up to grab Changmin’s hands and stop him.

     “Then what do I do?”

     “I don’t know, if I ever go to bed with my hair really wet I usually brush it and put it back into a braid so in the morning it turns curly.” She didn’t have to say anything else before Changmin jumped up and hurried to the bathroom, coming back with a brush in his hand. He flew on to the bed, the force knocking Ally on her side as she burst out laughing. “What are you doing?”

     “I’m going to brush your hair! You took care of me so I’ll take care of you. Didn’t you agree to be my little sister? This is part of the job description, alright?” Changmin pulled her up into a sitting position and had her sit still. “No complaining.”

     “I never complained!” Ally retorted, giggling one last time before Changmin brought the brush to her hair and pulled it through. Although how he was brushing her hair hurt a bit, Ally kept quiet and did as she was told, not to complain. That might have had something to do with the fact that her mind was elsewhere, however. She couldn’t help but think about how Changmin asked her to be his sister, and about how he had reacted to Kang Jiyoung when he said the same thing, and now how he was treating her. It made her nervous about what he was actually thinking. Surely he was nicer to her than most people on the island, and it was obvious he was caring for her, but why? Was it because he pitied her? Was it because she looked weak? Or did she actually strike some type of nerve in Changmin that just made him genuinely want to become friends with her? Or take her on as a little sister, in the current case. Changmin was an important person in her life. Ally had always previously been a huge fan, watching all of his performances and supporting him from afar. But now that she had known him in real life, was this all being put on the line?

     By the time Ally had snapped out of her daydream, she looked at the clock and realized almost fifteen minutes had passed. She put her hands to her hair and realized Changmin had not only finished brushing it, but he had braided it as well.

     “How do you know how to braid hair?” Ally questioned, turning around to face him.

     “I learned a lot of things from my mom. She taught me when I was young because she figured it might impress a girl someday,” Changmin responded, chuckling to himself. “I never thought I’d ever actually braid someone’s hair.” Ally laughed, burying her head in her hands.

     “This feels like a sleepover I would have back at home!” She exclaimed, lifting up her head to wiggle her fingers in Changmin’s face. “Are we going to paint our nails next?” Changmin frowned at her and lightly pushed Ally down on to the bed with his hand, causing Ally to fall over in a fit of laughter. “I’m sorry! It’s just funny, that’s all.” Ally peeked up at Changmin and smiled. “Don’t be mad.” Changmin stared for a moment, seemingly contemplating what to do next, before a smile peeked at his lips and he flopped down on the bed next to Ally and tickled her side, causing her to yelp out and kick his leg. Changmin laughed, covering .

     “Don’t yell! You’ll wake everyone up!” he chuckled, shaking his head and returning his hands back to himself. Ally pouted at him and lightly punched his arm.

     “But Changmin, you were the one who tickled me in the first place!” she pointed out with a frown.

     “Do you only call me ‘oppa’ when you’re trying to get something out of me?” Changmin suddenly responded, and Ally scrunched up her face in confusion. “You’ve only called me it a few times before. It just stands out because almost everyone calls us members ‘oppa’ here.”

     “I’m not Korean so I feel kind-of awkward calling someone ‘oppa’. It’s much easier to call someone by their name for me, even if I don’t say names very often anyway.” Ally smiled slightly. “Plus, I only use it when I’m using my best aegyo, which is usually but not limited to times when I want something.” She stuck her tongue out teasingly. “Get it right.”

     “You really like aegyo?  How come?” Changmin asked, turning his head to face Ally.

     “It all started when I saw Sunny from Girls’ Generation for the first time. Her aegyo was seriously the best,” Ally said, smiling as if remembering the moment like it was yesterday. “She really does deserve the title of ‘Aegyo Queen’!”

     “You like Sunny? Soonkyu?” Changmin asked, looking surprised and then pleased. “We’re all close with her! Well, Seulong and I more-so but still, we all get along really well!” Ally giggled.

     “Yeah, I know.”

     With that, the two began chatting about anything. Starting with gossiping and raving about celebrities, they went to their friends and then their home lives, until they were sharing everything about each other. Favorite colors, favorite foods, hobbies… everything at one point or another in the conversation was being shared. Ally learned things about Changmin that she would never have guessed before, such as his fear of the dark as a child or the things 2AM did when cameras weren’t rolling. Although much less interesting than anything Changmin had to say, she told him all the interesting things that come with living next to New York City as well as things like her experiences meeting the Wonder Girls. The quick conversation turned into hours worth of sharing stories and experiences with one another.

     During the two’s chat on Changmin’s bed, Ally started to feel a bit anxious. Her chat with Changmin was making her think, and a familiar feeling was creeping in her stomach. She tried to push it away from her mind at first, but it became too hard to handle. Ally knew it was dangerous to have such thoughts and feelings, but what other choice did she have? She had to be honest with herself, as well as with Changmin. Ally couldn’t help but imagine Changmin’s reaction. Would he laugh? Would he agree with her? Or, most likely, he would be angry or frustrated with her. Ally didn’t blame him, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed about it. As much as she wanted to keep it all to herself, Ally knew that she had a secret that would be better off sharing.

     Whilist Changmin was telling a story about being backstage on Immortal Song 2, Ally reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. Changmin paused to watch Ally, a curious look in his eyes.

     “Your hair is completely dry now. That’s good,” she said softly, refusing to look Changmin in the eye. “And do you feel a bit better now?” Changmin didn’t answer, but Ally could feel his head nod under her hand. Ally moved her hands away from Changmin and sighed, sitting up in the bed and sighing, fiddling with her hands in her lap. Changmin frowned in curiosity and sat up as well.

     “I can’t ignore it anymore,” Ally said softly, taking a deep breath before looking Changmin nervously in the eye. “There’s something I need to confess.”