“Lili. We need to talk.”

Lili glanced at Soyoung’s stern expression and sighed. This was going to be bad.

“Sure. What about?” she tried asking innocently.

Soyoung pinned her with a pointed look. “Lili, please. Look, I know you want my brother and me to be on good terms again but you can’t force this kind of thing. I’m not ready to forgive him so please don’t push me.”

Lili sighed again and set down her textbook to fully face her friend. “I know I’m meddling but I can’t help it. It’s been years since you two have had a real conversation and Youngjae seriously thinks you hate him. At this rate, you’ll never reconcile.”

“What if I don’t want to reconcile?” Soyoung asked exasperatedly.

“He’s family. Why wouldn’t you want to?” Lili asked in utter confusion.

Soyoung just shook her head. “Like I said, I’m not ready.”

“How can you ever be ready for this kind of thing? Forgiveness isn’t something you prepare. It’s something that just happens. But you have to let it. Do you really want to be estranged from your one and only brother for the rest of your life?”

Soyoung shrugged a little helplessly. “Lili…”

“I’ll try to stop pushing you two together all the time, but in return, you can’t run away from him anymore. Face him and get to know him again. Deal?”

Soyoung was silent for a while. Then: “No promises. But I’ll try.”

Lili smiled. “That’s all I can ask for.” Secretly, she planned to spend a lot of time with Youngjae so that Soyoung would have no choice but to deal with him more.

“Now.” Soyoung adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “I want to know what’s going on between you and GOT7.”

Lili immediately shrugged and returned to her notes. “Nothing much really.”

“You can’t fool me, Lili. You spend an inordinate amount of time with them. I would even go so far to say that they’re your only friends, aside from me. And I’m not sure anyone else will want to be your friend at this point.”

Lili frowned. “Why not?”

“The girls are too jealous of you and the boys are too intimidated by GOT7,” Soyoung explained logically.

“This is why high school is silly,” Lili scoffed. “We’re all just human beings.”

“Maybe. But enough of that. What’s going on between you and Mark?” When Lili fought down a blush, Soyoung astutely said, “I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

“Am I that obvious?” Lili worried her lip.

“Not early as obvious as every other girl but I can tell. Be careful, Lili.”

“I know,” Lili muttered instantly. “I keep telling myself I can’t like him but he keeps being so nice to me. And he’s so much more normal than some of the other guys.”

Soyoung nodded sagely. “Yes, but that’s exactly why he’s the most popular among girls. He’s sweet even as he’s breaking your heart, which is why he’s played with nearly the entire female population and yet he’s still adored.”

Lili looked at her friend pleadingly. “What do I do? I should stop spending time with him. But…you’re right. Aside from you, I have no one else.”

“I don’t know,” Soyoung sighed. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. I think part of the reason they all like you so much is because you don’t fall at their feet and worship the air they breathe.”

“Neither do you.”

“Yes, but I’m Youngjae’s sister, which automatically means they don’t bother me. Moreover, I’m not pretty like you.”

Lili made a face. “What are you even talking about? Have you looked in a mirror? Have you even properly looked at me?”

Soyoung shook her head. “Anyway, just be careful with Mark. I think it’s possible that he could actually like you but you never know.”

“So you do like Mark-hyung.”

Lili and Soyoung flinched in their seats before turning to see Yugyeom leaning coolly against the doorframe, eyebrow raised, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

“First of all, I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Lili said, giving him a blank look. “Second of all, no, I don’t.”

“Whatever. Are you coming tomorrow?”

Soyoung looked at Lili curiously. “Tomorrow?”

“Oh, right. Mark and Jackson asked me to hang out with you guys tomorrow. Soyoung, can you come?”

Soyoung pointed at herself. “Me?”

Lili nodded. “That was my condition for saying yes.”

“What? Afraid Mark-hyung will sweep you of your feet like he does with every girl if you come alone?” Yugyeom smirked.

“No, I need someone I like to talk to there so I don’t have to resort to talking to you if the other guys are preoccupied,” Lili retorted. “I can’t deal with all seven of you at once for extended periods of time. Also, I like spending time with Soyoung.”

Yugyeom narrowed his eyes at her. “Whatever you say.”

“So? Can you make it?” Lili asked Soyoung again, ignoring Yugyeom’s glare.

“Is this another one of your reconciliation schemes?” Soyoung raised an amused eyebrow.

“It wasn’t until you mentioned it!” Lili smiled brightly.

“Oh, I heard about that.” Yugyeom snorted. “Youngjae-hyung was practically in tears after that stunt you pulled last time.”

“Youngjae? Really?” Lili frowned, worried. “Soyoung, what did you do?”

Surprisingly, the girl actually looked guilty. “I…may have accused him using you to get to me and walked out on him.”

“Soyoung! You didn’t!”

“No wonder you two are friends,” Yugyeom muttered under his breath, but the two girls ignored him.

“Well, tomorrow is the perfect chance to apologize,” Lili said decisively, nodding. “Make sure you come, okay?”

“As long as you don’t expect me to interact with Junior,” Soyoung stipulated.

Lili furrowed her brows in confusion. “What’s wrong with Junior?”

Soyoung glanced at Yugyeom. “That’s a story for another time.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Where and when are we meeting?” She directed the last part to Yugyeom, in a mildly irritated tone.

Yugyeom looked unhappy but told them the details and then left, but not before throwing one last barb. “You have no chance with Mark-hyung, flower girl. Stop trying.” He left before Liili could reply.

She huffed angrily. “Flower girl? Because of my name? Is that supposed to be an insult?” She stared after him. “He really irritates me. Why does he dislike me so much?”

“I think he just doesn’t like that all his friends like you so much,” Soyoung observed with an amused smile. “And you two have somewhat similar personalities.”

“Me and him? Similar?” Lili stared in disbelief. “Did you really just compare me to that ape?”

“He probably also doesn’t like that you don’t grovel at his feet, like other girls,” Soyoung added. “He’s pretty popular, you know.”

“And I really wonder why.”

The bell rang and Lili quickly packed up. She waved quickly to Soyoung. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Don’t forget!” Then she ran off.

Her parents had been on her case after that one afternoon when she’d watched GOT7’s performance and she hated to think that they were losing trust in her. She tried to rush home but was soon caught by Jackson and BamBam.

“Lili, my love!” Jackson cried dramatically, throwing his arms around her. “I haven’t seen you in forever!”

Lili squirmed in his arms. “We just ate lunch together earlier today.”

“That was like a lifetime ago!”

“Get off her, she doesn’t like,” BamBam said, prying Jackson off before grinning widely and immediately replacing the older boy. “Lili! You missed me, didn’t you?”

“Again, I saw you at lunch.” Lili stood uncomfortably still in his arms. “Please let go of me.”

BamBam pouted but acquiesced. “You don’t like PDA, do you?”

“How could you tell?” Lili said wryly, adjusting her backpack straps. “I really have to go now. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, you’re coming! It’s gonna be so much fun!” BamBam cheered but Lili was already hurrying away.

“Wait, we’ll walk you home!” Jackson called and quickly caught up, BamBam right behind him.

“You just want to know where I live.”

“Very true,” Jackson nodded.

“Why are you always running away from us?” BamBam asked cutely.

Lili couldn’t help but laugh at their adorably matching puppy faces. “I can’t keep up with you two. I’m not nearly that energetic.”

“Yeah, you’re like Yugyeom,” BamBam nodded.

Lili stopped in her tracks and whirled on them. “Exactly how am I like that smug jerk?”

Jackson shrugged. “You’re both kinda cold and, like, untouchable, but you can also be super cute if you wanna be. And you act like you don’t care but you actually do.”

“You know me so well after just a few days,” Lili said sarcastically, but she was smiling softly. “Do you know why he hates me?”

“Nah, he doesn’t. You just clash. Do you hate him?” Jackson asked, curious.

Lili shook her head. “No, of course not. I don’t know him well enough to hate him. He just annoys me, I guess.”

“Hmm. He says you like Mark-hyung,” BamBam piped up. “Do you?”

Lili faltered in her step and a light blush rose to her cheeks. “I do not.”

Jackson sighed sadly. “Why do all the girls fall for Mark? Why not me? I’m clearly so much better!”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m obviously the best!” BamBam declared, puffing his chest out.

“Yah! Respect your elders!”

Lili simply watched and smiled as Jackson and BamBam continued to argue about who was best. She was so invested, in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the bike in time and indeed could not react fast enough.

“Whoa! Watch out!”

Jackson and BamBam each grabbed a wrist and pulled her back, cutting off her momentum and the bicycle whizzed by mere inches away. Lili’s eyes were wide and her heart was pumping with adrenaline.

I never used to be this inattentive, she though in a daze. This is already the second time since I came to Korea. What’s wrong with me?

“You okay?” Jackson asked, peering at her face with worry. BamBam was busily patting her for injuries.

She nodded and Jackson proceeded to turn in the direction the bicycle had been heading in and yelled loudly, “Watch where you’re going, idiot! Pedestrians have the right of way!”

She jumped away in shock when BamBam’s hand strayed too close to her and turned to glare at him. “BamBam!”

He gazed back guilelessly. “What?”

“Never try to touch my again,” she warned and Jackson, upon hearing her, instantly jumped on BamBam and gave him a hard noogie.

“What? How could you do that? Only I can do that!”

“No, you can’t either, Jackson,” Lili said, almost slapping a hand on her face.

“Hey, ow, that hurts! Stop, you’re making me lose brain cells!” BamBam yelped.

“You don’t use them anyway!”

The two boys wrestled and bickered with each other the whole way. Lili thought, I will never understand boys.

They finally reached her house and she smiled at them, “Thanks for walking me home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jackson reminded her of the meeting time and place. “Don’t be late!”

“You’re gonna have so much fun!” BamBam jumped excitedly.

Lili waved goodbye as they left. “Be careful on your way back.”

“Did you hear that?” Jackson exclaimed. “Lili wants me to be careful because she loves me! Hah!”

“No, she said that to me because she love me more!” BamBam argued.

Lili could only shake her head at them and quickly returned home. She greeted her parents and then went off to finish her homework.

The following evening, Saturday, she got dressed to go out after spending the day studying and practicing. She had told her parents she would be going out with friends today and they trusted her to make good friends so they didn’t ask further. Lili was glad because frankly, she wasn’t sure her parents would be very accepting of GOT7.

When she arrived at the meeting place five minutes early, Soyoung was already there.

“Soyoung! You’re so early! When did you get here?” Lili waved as she approached her friend with a smile.

Soyoung shrugged. “Just a few minutes ago. I like to be early.”

“Me too,” Lili agreed. Her smile turned dry as she noticed they were the only two there. “I bet the guys will be late.”

“Seems like it,” Soyoung sighed.

“Oh. You two are already here?”

The two girls turned and stared in shock at Junior, who nonchalantly strolled over and sat down on a nearby bench.

Of all people, Junior? Lili thought. He seemed least like he would be early. Maybe it was his playboy vibe.

“You’re quite early,” Soyoung remarked frostily. “How unexpected.”

Lili squinted at Soyoung, wondering what exactly had happened between her and Junior to make her act like this.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Junior countered pithily. “I like to be early. The ones who are usually late are JB, Mark, Jackson, and BamBam.”

“JB?” Lili said with raised eyebrows. “He doesn’t seem the type.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Junior smirked. “He spends too long picking out his clothes. So does BamBam. Jackson takes forever in the bathroom, and Mark-hyung just wakes up late.”

An endearing image of sleepy Mark sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes popped into Lili’s head and she quickly shook it away, forcing down her blush.

“Hm, it seems our Yugyeommie wasn’t lying,” Junior observed shrewdly. “So you have a crush on Mark-hyung, huh?”

“No, I don’t,” Lili replied calmly, though her heart was thumping nervously. She wanted to strangle Yugyeom.

“Ouch,” Mark’s voice winced behind her. “That hurts.”

“Mark-hyung,” Junior greeted with a nod.

Lili spun around and saw Mark walking up to them with a charming smile. Soyoung discreetly nudged her in the side and Lili sent her back a little glower. She was not melting at the sight of him. She had more self-respect than that.

“Hi, Mark,” she said.

“I guess my feelings are unrequited,” he laughed.

She tried not to let his words get to her but she couldn’t help smiling as she warned good-naturedly, “Don’t tease me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Stop flirting with my girl!” Jackson swooped in and lifted Lili off the ground with his embrace. “Morning, Lili! You’re looking gorgeous today as well!”

“Thank you, Jackson.” Lili smiled tolerantly. “Please put me down.”

He set her down gently and planted an enthusiastic kiss on her cheek, which she cringed away from, and turned to Soyoung, dropping into a dramatically deep bow. “At your service. I’m Jackson, Lili’s true love. You look beautiful as well.”

“Lying will get you nowhere,” Lili chided as she waved and smiled at Youngjae and BamBam, who were running towards the growing group.

Soyoung smiled politely. “Thank you. I hope I’m not imposing.”

“No way! The more the merrier, of course!” BamBam said gleefully as he bounced over and squeezed Lili into a hug.

“BamBam, you’re suffocating her. Let go,” JB ordered as he suddenly appeared next to them. He smirked to Lili and Soyoung in greeting. “Good morning, ladies.”

“Hello,” Soyoung said.

“Good morning, JB,” Lili greeted as she peeled BamBam away from her.

“Can we go already?” Yugyeom said impatiently, his arms folded tightly across his chest. He nodded to Soyoung, sent a dark look to Lili, and proceeded to ignore her.

She had no issue with that. She ignored him right back.

“Will someone tell me where we’re going?” Lili asked to the group in general as they began walking.

“C’mon Lili, have a little patience,” Youngjae grinned. “Don’t you like surprises?”

“Depends on the surprise,” she tossed back.

“Well, you liked watching us dance before, right?”

Lili exchanged looks with Soyoung. “I suppose.”

“Then you should like this!” BamBam jumped into the conversation. “There’s dancing!”

“I won’t have to dance or anything, will I?” she asked as the thought occurred to her.

“Not if you don’t want to,” Youngjae reassured her.

“But you can dance with meeeee!” BamBam grabbed her hands and spun her around.

“Hey, no fair! Lili doesn’t wanna dance with a scrawny kid like you! She wants a real man, like yours truly!” Jackson flexed and made duck faces.

“Neither of you are suave enough for Lili.” Junior slid in beside her, casually resting an arm on her shoulder.

Soyoung surreptitiously stuck her foot out, holding back a snicker as he tripped and stumbled.

He glared at her and she stared back too innocently.

Lili noticed what had happened, and she slightly leaned over and whispered to Soyoung, “As soon as we are alone, I want to hear what happened between you two.”

“You really want to know?”

“Of course. I can hardly contain my curiosity!”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Lili laughed. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Alright,” Soyoung agreed. “I’ll let you be the judge.”

Soon enough, they had arrived and the girls were shocked to find themselves standing in front of the entrance to an actual club.

“Aren’t we all too young to go clubbing?” Lili asked with trepidation as she stared at the huge neon sign with the club’s name flickering excitedly. Delirium, it read.

The name only added to her mounting apprehension.

“Don’t worry. We’re just here for a dance battle,” Youngjae finally explained. “You don’t have to drink or anything.”

Lili wrinkled her nose delicately and Soyoung gazed at her brother in a new light. “I don’t know about this.”

“Is this what you’ve been doing in your free time?” Soyoung questioned in shock.

Youngjae blushed. “W-w-we’re just trying to get our name out!”

“C’mon, guys, let’s go already,” JB called out from inside the entrance, holding the doors open.

Lili could already see the nauseating strobe lights and the mass of grinding bodies. She frowned.

“Just sit by the bar and watch us dance. Please?” Mark requested with a pleading face.

“B-b-bar?” Soyoung gasped. Lili shared her sentiments.

“You can get water. I swear, everything will be fine. Just come support us, okay?” Mark tried again.

Lili sighed. Soyoung widened her eyes and shook her head frantically. “I…I guess that would be okay. Just water and watching you guys dance?”

Mark nodded. “Cross my heart.”

Lili looked over to Soyoung, who was busy trying to calm herself down. “Soyoung? Will you come with me? It doesn’t sound too bad and I do want to see them dance, but it’s fine if you don’t want to go. I’ll stay with you.”

Soyoung hesitated for a few seconds before giving in. “Oh, alright. But we’re sticking together like glue.”

Lili nodded. “Of course!”

Mark grinned and Jackson and BamBam whooped.

They stepped in and immediately girls started screaming as they recognized GOT7.

As a group, they gravitated towards the bar. And then things got a little uncomfortable—for Lili and Soyoung, at least.

JB, Mark, and Junior greeted the bartender and ordered drinks. JB sipped on his beer in a cool and sophisticated manner, giving off a chic vibe that caused everyone to admire him from afar. Meanwhile, Junior was downing shots like there was no tomorrow and Mark casually drank from a glass of tequila like it was water. To Lili’s shock, even BamBam walked over to the bar and got a mixed vodka drink as if he had done it many times before.

He probably has, Lili thought in disapproval as she watched them break the law.

Except Mark, because they were in Korea, but Lili had always personally preferred America’s legal age of twenty-one over Korea’s eighteen. Eighteen-year-olds were still hormonal teenagers who did stupid things and should not be legally allowed room for more stupidity such as getting drunk.

She was doubly surprised to find that Jackson refrained from drinking, given his daring personality. When she asked him about it, he shrugged and said, “Alcohol makes me cry. I like being happy. I’m much better at that sober. Also beer tastes like .”

Youngjae leaned over and whispered, “The first time Jackson drank, he started sobbing about missing his mom and wanting to go home and told a bunch of embarrassing stories about his childhood. We got it on video. I’ll show you some time.”

“No, you won’t!” Jackson yelled over the din, glaring at Youngjae.

Youngjae also stayed sober because he had tried alcohol before and didn’t fancy the taste much and Yugyeom, apparently, had never even touched the stuff. She had thought he was the type to break rules because he thought it was cool but it seemed he had some moral compass after all.

“Someone has to be responsible while the hyungs drink themselves into oblivion,” he snapped in aggravation at her assumption that he would be so stupid as to ingest alcohol. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

Llili raised her eyebrows.

Yugyeom rolled his eyes. “Whatever. They won’t listen to anyone who tells them not to drink so I figure if I can’t stop them, I’d better make sure they don’t drink too much and embarrass themselves.”

Soon, the music stopped and the DJ yelled into the microphone, “It’s that time of year again!”

Everyone cheered, “Dance battle!”

“That’s right! Word on the street is we got a new group with new moves! Last year, GOT7, the newbies on the scene, almost won! Let’s see what surprises we got in store for us today!”

He began naming and introducing the groups. The dance floor began to clear. As each name was yelled out, a group of dancers walked onto the floor to lots of cheers and yelling.

“Now we got our newbies this year! Give it up for B! T! S!”

The crowd went wild as seven boys clad in black and white swaggered forward. One of them did a handstand, his tank slipping down to reveal his well-defined abs, and the girls’ screams became fanatic.

Lili and Soyoung recoiled at the volume. “I think I’m going to be deaf!” Lili tried to shout over the noise, pointing at her ears.

Soyoung just grimaced and nodded. Looked like they wouldn’t be having that talk about Junior today.

“And last but definitely not least, back again to challenge the champs, lemme hear it for GOT7!”

The boys grinned and got up, making their way from the bar to the dance floor. Mark smirked at Lili as he passed by, Jackson winked, BamBam made a cute peace sign, and Youngjae grinned.

The DJ laughed and leaned back into the microphone, adjusting his headphones.

“Showtime!”

A/N: Oh my god I am soooo sorry for not updating! I swear I had half the chapter written and the rest planed out but school wouldn't let me write and then my laptop's motherboard died on me so I sent it in for repairs a month ago and now it's FINALLY back so I'm updating because I totally owe you guys!  It's a relatively long chapter, so please forgive me, I beg you!

I'm still not going to be on as often but I'll try to write more (I'm on spring break right now so I'll try to write as much as I can before I go back to school) so please bear with me as I slowly tell this tale! Thanks; I love you guys! <3

skyblaze208, OUT!

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