When Emily pops up in front of Jiho before he’s about to go into the recording studio, smiling cutely, he knows that she wants something.

He gives her a flat look. “What?” he demands.

She pouts immediately, sticking her lower lip out in his direction. “Why are you always so mean to me?” she complains.

“I’m not mean to you,” he assures her. “I’m the one who takes care of you, remember? I’m super nice.”

Emily wrinkles her nose at him. “I think you meant to say super mean, not super nice. I guess I won’t invite you out tonight then.”

“What crazy party are you off to tonight?” Jihoon asks curiously, a little eagerly. Since Emily has come into their lives, their nightlives have become a lot more interesting and most of them have a good time when they go out with her.

She grins at the maknae. “Nothing too crazy,” she says, almost apologetically, like she’s expected to have a crazy party to go to every night. “There’s a really cool indie band playing at an underground club in Gangnam, and I want to check it out. I would go by myself but, when I say that this place is underground, I mean really underground. Even I think that it’s probably not all that safe for me to go alone.” She gives Jiho an intense look when she says that.

“Then don’t go,” he says simply. “I can’t babysit you all the time, you know.”

She sticks her tongue out at him. “I’m going whether you come or not,” she says defiantly. “If I get abducted and murdered or something, that’s all on you. Have fun explaining to my uncle what happened.”

Jiho groans dramatically. “Have you always been this much of a brat?”

“Yep!” she chirps happily.

So, around eleven o’clock that night, they pile into the van and head for Emily’s underground club in Gangnam. It turns out to be this little hole in the wall that’s already crammed with people drinking and dancing, even though the band hasn’t come on yet.

Once the band actually starts playing, it seems like the numbers in the club double. Everyone is packed so tightly that it’s pretty impossible to move.

Jiho doesn’t actually mind it all that much. The sheer amount of people means that he and his boys are less likely to be recognized. It also means that it’s much harder to get to the bar, so Emily is drinking a lot less than she usually does. And, though he’ll never admit this even to himself, it means that he gets to dance inordinately close with Emily.

They’re dancing together, and Jiho is laughing at some joke Emily has made, when someone appears beside them. It’s a guy, taller than Jiho with broader shoulders but a rather dog-like face. He’s got a bottle of beer in his hand and one ear is pierced.

“Emily?” he says in some surprise, and Emily looks up at the guy.

Her expression fades from happy and laughing to a more reserved one at once. “Hyunseung,” she says shortly, looking away. “Fancy running into you here.”

The boy, Hyunseung, doesn’t seem deterred by her less than cheerful greeting. He just smiles, taking another sip of his beer. “I’d heard you were in town, but I didn’t really believe it. I guess you’re still hanging out at the same places.”

It’s obvious that Emily is uncomfortable with this guy, so Jiho puts an arm around her shoulders and gives the guy a polite but firm look. “We’re trying to dance here,” he says. “So why don’t you give us some space?”

The guy, who is easily taller than Jiho and probably quite a bit stronger, only laughs. “Why don’t you take a hike?” he suggests, rather nastily, not bothering to retain some semblance of politeness like Jiho had. Hyunseung looks back at Emily. “Come on, Emily,” he says, sneering. “Let’s go back to my place. I bet you’ve learned a thing or two since the last time I saw you.”

The ual implications of his offer have Jiho seething. He quickly places himself between Emily and this guy, lip curling back in a snarl. “Look, I already told you to off,” he begins.

But Emily pushes him out of the way and steps forward to join Hyunseung, the look on her face rather blank and devoid of emotion. “Let’s go,” she says shortly to the guy.

Jiho watches in disbelief as Hyunseung wraps his arm around Emily’s shoulders with a smug smirk and begins steering in the direction of the exit. “Emily!” Jiho says sharply.

She hardly glances over her shoulder at him. “Mind your own business, Jiho,” she says shortly, and then she’s gone. 

so short! sorry!