"You're late."

The stern words drifted to meet the teenage girl at the door. She cringed, hugging the strap of her bag closer to her chest and praying her hoodie covered her face.

"I'm sorry, I had to help Hae Won with the cleaning." She attempted to scurry into her room but her foot got caught on the heavy rug and she stumbled, emitting a surprised squeak as she regained her balance.

"Dressed like that?" Her mother's skeptical voice came from the doorway to her left. Jae sent a quick glance down to her outfit, trying to think of a reason why a person would wear cotton shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers to work in a kitchen, instead of her uniform.

A clap of thunder boomed outside, giving her an idea. "I changed before I left, so my uniform wouldn't be wet in the morning. You know the material takes forever to dry." Jae twisted the chain of her bracelet nervously, hoping her mother didn't see through the lie.

"And the hand-print on your thigh? Did the storm do that too?"

                  Damn.

Slowly and cautiously, Jae turned to face her mother. "Uh," She racked her brain trying to decide to lie more or tell the truth. Both ended in a punishment and arguing but which was the best choice? "I was at dance practice and my partner grabbed a little too hard."

The sharp sound of a hand hitting flesh was drowned out by a sudden downpour of rain on the roof.

Truthfully, the slap was expected. Many times her mother had forbidden her from dancing. Especially for YG. And now, with a man's hand-print on her thigh at 3am, she was in even more trouble.

So she held her tears back and stood up straight, looking her mother in the eyes as the older woman raged.

"You expect me to believe that?" She scoffed in disgust, shaking her head. "I don't know how you turned out so wrong. Why can't you let go of this foolish dancing idea and be more like your sister? Ho Sook is a dignified woman, with a stable job and a family."

Jae stood silently, letting the hurtful words bounce off of her carefully constructed walls like they had a million times before.

"If your father could see you now, he would be rolling over in his grave."

And her walls cracked.

Without saying a word, she turned and walked into her room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She dropped her bag next to her dresser and kicked her sneakers off. Hearing her mother's slippers shuffling outside the door, she reached over and turned the lock on her doorknob.

"Hyun Jae! Open this door right now!"

Ignoring the demands being screamed at her, Jae peeled her wet clothes off and tossed them in her laundry basket, then pulled an oversized t-shirt bearing a dollar sign logo out of her drawer and over her head. Her damp hair wet the back of the shirt and she knew it would annoy her later but for now, she was content to lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about her night.

"Want some help?"

The words were simple, yet her head snapped up to meet his gaze with shocked green eyes. "What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes, sitting next to her on the floor. "You're too forced when you move. You just need practice."

"And you're going to help me with that?" She asked, not fully believing him.

He grinned at her, sending a small shiver down her spine. "Of course. Up."

They stood up, with Jae staring up at G-dragon awaiting instruction. "This is not going to work."

He had noticed the problem too but was sure they could make it work, at least for one night. "Unless you can miraculously grow about a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier, I think we're pretty much going to have to deal with it."

Her eyes flashed at his sarcastic jab at her height. "Hey, I don't like being the size of a 5 year old either." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited, her shoulders tensing up.

"See? You're too tense." He grabbed her wrists gently, uncrossing her arms from her chest. "Just relax or you might end up killing Taeyang tomorrow."

"Who?" She asked, not sure who or what he was talking about.

"Your partner for the dance. You elbowed him earlier and almost broke his ribs."  She started to tense up again, but the teasing smile on his face kept her relaxed as they got in the starting position.

"Left, 1, 2, 3..." They began the routine, moving in sync with each other. When she grinded against him, he grabbed her hips to stop her movement. "That isn't how you grind."

Jae felt herself blush, knowing she had been doing it wrong. "I don't-"

He cut her off by pulling her hips into his, gripping the back of her thighs to pull her. A strangled gasp left as she stared into his darker than usual eyes. She backed out of his grasp hurriedly, tripping over her bag as she stuttered an excuse out.

"I-I should go...My mother will be worried..." He nodded, his eyes back to their normal cold shade of brown.

Jae grabbed her hoodie off of the rack and tugged it on, listening to the beginning of the storm outside. "So...see you tomorrow?" She asked as she grabbed her bag.

Again he nodded wordlessly, avoiding her gaze as they walked out of the practice room.

 

Without realizing it, Jae's hand had moved down to rest over the bruise on the back of her thigh. 'I should've been repulsed. Disgusted. Mortified. Why did I want him to touch me more?'

At 17, Jae had had very little experience with dating, or boys in general. She had kissed only one guy, her adopted brother Ricky, as a dare when they were children. She had never been so close to a guy as she had been with G-dragon only hours earlier. 

As she imagined the feel of his body pressed against hers, she dozed off into a light sleep.