Hye Jin’s POV

Young Jae and I arrive at the ice cream place to see Mark and Jackson sitting at our usual table in the corner. 

“The lovebirds are here~!” Jr sings from behind the counter. I hide my face from embarrassment mouthing a silent ‘sorry’ to any other customers in the store while Young Jae bows proudly and waves his hand in the air like he’s the Queen of England. 

“Thank you, thank you.” he says quietly and I playfully hit his arm. He looks down at me and shrugs. 

We make our way over to Mark and Jackson and as soon as we sit down they lean over and eye us suspiciously. 

“Nice shoes Hye Jin. Now, how far did you go?” My eyes widen and I look from Young Jae to the two older boys in front of us in shock. Neither of us know what to say, we didn’t do anything but the fact that he’s asking us so suddenly has us tongue-tied. “Oh my god! I was just kidding but how far did you go?!” Jackson asks again. 

Before I know it JB and Jr are also at our table, looking down at us, arms crossed. “What. Did. You. Do?” JB asks through gritted teeth. I shake my head. 

“We didn’t do anything.” I say. 

“Then why are you so nervous?” Mark asks. I look between the four boys and then at Young Jae. I hit him in the shoulder. 

“Say something!” I yell at him. 

“Huh? Oh. Right. We didn’t do anything hyung. I just slept over, that’s all.” The four boys coil back in shock. 

“You slept over? On the first day? What happened to my innocent Young Jae?” Jackson asks. 

“Hyung, are you going to help us or not?” Young Jae asks, running his hand through his hair. Jackson pouts and crosses his arms tighter across his chest before turning away from us. 

“No. I signed up to help my innocent Young Jae. But now he’s gone.” he starts to be all dramatic, pretending to sob as Mark holds in his laughter. 

“Jackson, stop being a girl.” he says. Jackson gasps and glares at Mark. 

“How dare you? Do you not care about our little Young Jae?” he asks. Mark reaches out and pulls him into his chest so that Jackson is practically laying in his lap. 

“Stop being dramatic. He’s still our Young Jae, he’s just growing up.” he says in Jackson ear. Jackson looks up at him. 

“I don’t think you understand, Mark. He’s not old enough to be sleeping over at girls houses yet.”

“Hyung!” Young Jae yells, getting his attention. “I couldn’t leave her alone after what happened yesterday. You understand right?” 

Young Jae folds his hands under his chin and looks at Jackson with a puppy-eye expression. Jackson stares at him for a while before throwing his hands up in the air and sighing.

“Fine. You win. You’re growing up too fast for my liking though.” he says. 

“You know, you’re not that much older than me.” Jackson glares at him and Young Jae backs down. 

“Now that that’s sorted, let’s get started!” Mark says, clapping his hands together. 

We run through our English assignment and after a couple of hours of trying to fix my horrible pronunciation the two older boys give up. As if on cue, Jr appears beside us with ice cream and hands us one each. 

“Take a break. You’re going to give Hye Jin a headache.” he says, smiling at me. 

“Hye Jin? What about our headache? You try to teach her English and then speak to me Jin Young-ah.” Jackson counters. I stare down at the table. 

“Sorry Oppa. I’ll work on it at home and hopefully the next time I’ll be better.” I say, apologetically.

“How’s this? Jackson and I will record ourselves doing your role-play and that way you have a reference to compare yourself to. There’s no point practicing on your own if you don’t know if you’re getting it right or not.” Mark says, earning a glare from Jackson. 

“Really? That would be great. Thank you so much.” I gush.

“Excuse me. Why are you offering my services without speaking to me first?” Jackson says to Mark. Mark turns around and lightly taps him on the head. 

“She’s family now. You should be helping her out anyways.” Jackson picks up his ice cream and starts eating while mumbling under his breath. I look at him apologetically and Mark just smiles at me. 

“Ew. I think we need to find a new ice cream shop to go to.” We all turn to the door to see the owner of the voice and just my luck, it’s Nari. 

“Maybe you should, nobody wants to see you here anyways.” Young Jae says, before turning his attention away again. 

I see Jackson put his hand face up on the table towards Mark and Mark lightly taps it and the two snicker. 

“What happened to you Oppa? You never used to be so mean.” Na Ri says, pouting as she walks over to our table. Young Jae stands up before she gets too close and she stops walking.

“That’s as close as you’re getting Na Ri. Now, what do you want? Because we actually have better things to do.” he says, crossing his arms. Na Ri huffs.

“I don’t get you, Oppa. Why her? I’m prettier than she is. I’m smarter. I’m so much better for you than she is.” she whines. 

“You’re so full of it.” Young Jae sighs and runs his hands through his hair. “Why her? Because it’s her. There’s not much else to it.” 

“But Oppa…” Na Ri looks like she’s about to cry and I roll my eyes. I look at Jackson and he nods his head in their direction. I wink at him before getting up. I walk over to Young Jae and turn him towards me. I reach up on my toes and take his face in mine, and kiss him. I hear Na Ri gasp and feel Young Jae tense. I start to move my lips against his and he relaxes. I feel his hands wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. I can hear Mark and Jackson giggling behind us as I move my hands to around Young Jae’s neck. 

I feel a hand on my elbow and I’m pulled away from Young Jae as another hand lands on my cheek hard. I scoff and look at Nari who is fuming. 

“How. Dare. You?! How dare you kiss him?!” She shrieks. 

“Why? Can’t I kiss my boyfriend?” I say. I feel a slight sting on my cheek and look down at Na Ri’s hand which is now balled up into a fist. I see that she has a ring on her middle finger. Damn. Young Jae turns me to face him and he touches my cheek where it stings. He pulls his fingers away and I see a bit of blood on his fingers. I knew it. Young Jae stares down at his fingers and I see him start to get angry. I turn him away from Na Ri, so that his back is towards her. I make him look at me and whisper loud enough for just him to hear me.

“Jae, look at me. Calm down. Let me handle this.”

“But -“ I shake my head. 

“No buts. I’ll take care of it.” I say. I turn to Mark and Jackson and send them a look. They both get up and stand beside Young Jae, trying to calm him down as I go back to face Na Ri. 

“Your boyfriend? Don’t be so delusional . Oppa, just pities you, that’s why he’s being nice to you. Plus, you have a dirty history. Why should he date you when there’s better choices right here, who have been by his side for years?” I scoff. She really can’t take a hint can she?

“That’s all well and good in your head Na Ri. But this is the real world and Young Jae can choose whoever he wants to be with. Now, if you don’t mind you’re disturbing the peace here so I suggest you leave before you get kicked out.” I say, calmly. She huffs before looking over at JB and Jr who have their arms crossed and an angered look on their faces. She spins on her heel and stomps out of the store, her cronies following behind her. I let out a breath and before I know it Jr is in front of me, checking my face. 

“Are you okay? I’ll get the first-aid kit. Sit down.” he says to me before running away again. 

I plop myself back down into my seat and Mark leads Young Jae back to his seat beside me. 

“Alright, you two. Speak up. You guys have way too much drama in your relationship and it’s not even between you two.” Jackson says, leaning forward with his arms resting on the table. 

“Well, you know about Hyun Woo, Na Ri is just obsessed with me. She’s liked me for years but I’ve never seen her that way and she’s just upset that I’m with Hye Jin.” Young Jae says, shrugging. 

“She’s more than obsessed by the looks of it.” Mark says quietly. But we all hear him. 

“What are we going to do with you two?” Jr says as he comes over to clean up the cut on my cheek. 

Young Jae’s POV

A few days go past and it’s time for our first official date. We decide on just going to watch a movie and the day after is Bam Bam and Yu Gyeom’s first basketball game. We talked about going with the hyungs but I didn't want our first date to be with the hyungs around so we decided to go out the night before the game. 

That night I go to pick up Hye Jin but I see a figure hanging around outside the building. I get closer and notice it’s Hyun Woo. Instinctively my hands ball into fists and I go over to confront him. 

“I thought I told you not to go anywhere near Hye Jin.” I say, making him turn around and face me. 

“I was wondering when I’d see you again.” he says, smirking. It takes everything in me to not punch him in the face right there. “You know, I’m never going to let her go. She was everything to me. She still is. Just because you’re in the picture now it doesn’t mean a damn thing.” 

“You really need a reality check. She left you. She doesn’t want you anymore and I’ll be damned if I let you get your filthy hands on her ever again. Now leave, she doesn’t need to know you’re here.” 

“That’s fine. I really only wanted to see you anyways.” he says as he turns to leave. Creep. 

I wait until he’s out of sight before going into the building and up to Hye Jin’s apartment. I press the doorbell and wait patiently. The door opens and I feel something wrap around my legs.

“Hyung!” I should have known. I crouch down to pick Tae Jin up before walking into the house with him. 

“How are you?” I ask him, even though I’d seen him a few hours ago. 

“Good. Noona is getting ready.” he says and I nod. I enter the living room and Mrs. Kim is on the couch. “Omma, hyung is here.”

I bow when she turns around. “Hey, Young Jae. Hye Jin will be out in a second. Come and have a seat while you wait.”

I walk over to a seat and sit down. “Where are you going?” Mrs Kim asks. 

“Just to a movie.” I say, nodding. Before she can ask anything else Hye Jin comes out from her room, dressed and ready. 

“Hey you.” she says when she sees me. I smile and say a casual ‘hey’ back. “Let’s get going.” 

I nod and stand up, bowing to Mrs Kim and high-fiving Tae Jin before following Hye Jin out. 

We’re half way to the cinema and neither of us have said a word. I can see Hye Jin glancing at me every few minutes but I can’t stop thinking of my encounter with that creep earlier today. Why is it so hard to get rid of him? Why is he so hung up getting Hye Jin back? I mean, I’d be devastated if I lost her, but I wouldn’t beg her to come back to me if she clearly didn’t want to. 

“Young Jae, Young Jae, Choi Young Jae.” Hye Jin’s voice in my ear snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn to her, a little dazed. 

“Huh? Did you say something?” she looks at me with a worried expression on her face. 

“What’s wrong?” I shake my head. “I can tell something is wrong, Jae. What’s up?” 

“It’s nothing. Seriously.” I say, smiling. She glares at me for a second before shrugging and turning away from me. 

The rest of the night goes by in a blur. I can’t even remember what movie we watched or what happened in it. My mind is filled with ways to completely get Hyun Woo out of Hye Jin’s life. I don’t want her running away from him resulting in her leaving me. Before I know it we’re walking hand-in-hand and almost at Hye Jin’s place. 

We’re right in front of her building when I feel her pull on my hand. I turn to look at her and she’s staring at the floor. 

“You can go now. I’ll be fine from here.” 

“I’ll walk you up.” I say, tilting my head a little. 

“It’s fine.” she pulls her hand out of mine and walks past me. I grab her wrist and stop her, turning her around. 

“What’s wrong?” I ask her. She shakes her head and twists her arm out of my grip. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” she turns around and walks into the building, leaving me there dumbfounded. 

I hear slow claps coming from behind me and turn around to see that creep coming out from the hedges with a smug grin on his face. 

“Your first date and it ended badly.” he says as he steps in front of me. “I know that look. She’s upset. What did you do to my Jin Jin?” I cringe at the nickname but don’t say anything. I don’t even know the answer. That and I don’t want to waste my breath on this weirdo. It seems my silence angers him as he steps closer grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. “You know, I was going to give her up if I saw her coming home happy with you. But she is far from happy. I have no idea what the hell you did to her but I won’t ever let you have her.”

That does it. I push forward, grabbing him by his shirt too. 

“I don’t need your permission to date Hye Jin. I don’t need you to let me have her. Actually, you know what? I should thank you. If it wasn’t for you she never would have moved here and I never would have met her. So thanks to you I’ve found the love of my life and the only thing left to make it perfect is for you to be out of the picture. So tell me, what will it take for you to leave her alone completely?” I say, anger boiling through my veins. 

“How far are you willing to go for me to leave Hye Jin alone completely?” I let go of him, pushing him back as I do. He lets go too. I just glare at him, waiting for him to continue. “You leave her too.” 

“What?” 

“If I can’t have her, neither can you.” 

“And how will I know you’ve left her alone?” 

“Where are you going? You can still be friends. I just don’t agree with you dating her, that’s all.” I continue to glare at him. “Just the thought of it is horrible, don’t you agree? I know that feeling. The feeling of having her in front of me but not being able to make her mine. But I guess you haven’t progressed much in your relationship for you to miss her as much as I do. I have memories of her you will never have and I’m not willing to let you make any.” 

That does it. I lunge forward and land a fist on his jaw. He stumbles back and growls as he steps forward and hits me. We exchange hits for a while before some random man who was driving by stops and pulls us apart. 

The next morning I wake up sore all over. I look at myself in the mirror and see the bruises and cuts on my face. . How am I going to explain this to everyone? I get ready for school and make my way to Hye Jin’s house. I hardly got any sleep last night because of my confrontation with Hyun Woo. But I push it to the back of my mind and put a smile on my face when I see Hye Jin and Tae Jin coming out of the building. Tae Jin, as usual, runs up to me but Hye Jin stops in her tracks. As I crouch down to pick up Tae Jin he stops in front of me and looks at my face. I continue to smile at him as he lifts one of his tiny hands and gently touches one of the bruises under my eye. 

“Hyung…” he breaths. I quickly pick him up and spin him around, causing him to giggle. 

“Hyung is fine. You don’t need to worry.” I pull away to glance at him and he nods. I turn to look at Hye Jin and she’s slowly making her way over to us. 

“What happened?” she asks quietly. 

“It’s nothing.” I say, smiling to reassure her. She looks down at the floor. 

“Right.” she starts to walk away, leaving Tae Jin and I behind. 

“Noona has been upset all night and all morning.” Tae Jin whispers in my ear. 

“Did she say what was wrong?” he shakes his head. 

We drop Tae Jin off at his school and he hugs Hye Jin for an abnormally long time, patting her back gently. Once he’s gone in Hye Jin and I walk to school in an awkward silence. We sit down at our desks and hardly even glance at each other. 

“Oppa! What happened to your face?!” Na Ri yells as she runs over to my desk. She reaches out to touch me and I quickly turn my head. 

“It’s none of your business.” I say. I don’t really feel like dealing with her today. I look at her face and she looks like she’s… smirking? As she walks away I turn to Hye Jin. 

“Are we still going to Bam Bam and Yu Gyeom’s game tonight?” she looks up at me for a second before looking away. 

“If you want to.” I’m about to ask her what’s wrong when the teacher walks in and we both have to turn our attention to the front. I pull out a piece of paper and write something down before passing it to Hye Jin. 

Baby, what’s wrong?

Nothing.

It doesn’t seem like nothing. You look… sad.

I’m not. 

Did I do something wrong?

No. 

I sigh. I’m hardly getting a response out of her and I don’t know what to do. Should I tell her about what happened with Hyun Woo? I’m about to write back to her when she pulls the paper back and writes something of her own before sliding it back to me. 

Are you going to tell me what happened to you? 

I will. Later. 

I wait for her to write something but she just glances down at the paper and continues to pay attention to the teacher. When the siren rings for lunch time everybody scatters and Yu Gyeom and Bam Bam come to join us. They freeze when they see my face and I discreetly shake my head at them, silently telling them not to ask me anything. They get the hint and quietly sit down. 

“Hyung, Noona. Are you guys coming to the game tonight?” Bam Bam asks. 

“Of course. The other hyungs are coming too.” I tell him. He fist pumps the air and turns to high-five Yu Gyeom. After they finish eating they race off back to their class room. There’s still 20 minutes of the break left and I turn to Hye Jin who hasn’t said a word all day. 

“Jin-nie?” she turns to look at me and my heart breaks. Her eyes look so sad. “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” she asks, no emotion in her voice whatsoever. 

“I don’t know.” I really don’t. Just seeing her expression I feel like I did something wrong. 

“You don’t even know what you did, so why are you apologising?” So I did do something. What did I do? “Did you enjoy our date last night?” 

Our date? What was wrong with our date? “Yeah, of course I did.” 

“Yeah?” I nod. “Do you remember what happened on our date?” What happened? What did happen? “What movie did we watch. Jae?” 

“We watched…” I pause. . What did we watch? 

“It was like you didn’t want to be there. If you don’t want to date me you don’t have to.” 

“Jinnie-yah…” the siren rings, signalling the end of our break.

A/N: Finally found time to put this up.. I need to organise my time and make like a Fic Writing hour or something. 

I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. Because I'm in my final semester I actually have a lot of worked piled up even though it's only week 1. :( 

Sorry for all the drama by the way haha I'll try to write more fluff in the upcoming chapters :)

Thank you for reading as always and comments are always welcome. 

Much love to you all! 

xoxo