“That was out of this world!!!!!”

“Kyaaaaaaa you guys did really awesome!!!!!”

Words of congratulations, compliments and occasional screams of excitement echoed outside the performance theatre as members of the dance club scurried into the arms of their family and friends who had come to watch them. Tickets were sold out, months of hard work and practice were put in and weeks of enthusiastic advertising around the school did not let the crowd down as the dancers received an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of their performance. Being the president of the dance club, Ji Eun was more than relieved to see that the past few months of confirming costume measurements, placing orders, organizing rehearsals and stressing over stage directions had paid off.

It did take up so much of her time the past few months though that she barely had enough time or energy for a legit phone conversation with her boyfriend, Bobby. He too had too many schedules piled up – survival show commitments, Show Me The Money, featuring in songs and concert appearances and it was inevitable that their schedules and free times often clashed. It had been almost a month since they had a proper conversation, most of their phone calls at night after a long day involving either one of them falling asleep halfway through and even longer since they last met up but seeing how successful the concert turned out, she was glad that the sacrifices were worth it. The two had also planned for Ji Eun to spend the night at his dorm upon realizing that they finally had coincidental free days so that was definitely a bonus worth celebrating.

“Can we take a picture with you?” A group of girls approached Ji Eun.

“Oh hey, yeah sure!” She replied happily, and they stood together and posed for a picture.

 Other groups of girls and even guys followed after, requesting for pictures together which Ji Eun happily agreed to. She was undoubtedly good looking, though not exactly the prettiest girl in school. Rather, she was more widely known to the people on campus as the Dance President, often receiving more attention for her superior skills. She had an amazing smile though, bright eyes, kind personality and a unique sense of humor that made her popular amongst her peers. Her humble and pleasant demeanor during daily interactions yet powerful stage presence was something most people admired about her.

The area outside the concert hall saw dancers exchanging hugs, catching up with old friends whom they had invited and taking photographs with groups of people, still dressed in their extravagant costumes. It was only about an hour and a half when the crowd started to clear and the dancers gathered to congratulate each other on a job well done. They had also booked a place at a restaurant for a celebratory dinner, which they attended after a quick wash up. However, Ji Eun only made a brief appearance before rushing home – seeing Bobby was more important.

Taking note of when the last bus would arrive at the bus stop downstairs, she took a quick shower, threw in a set of clothes and other basic necessities in her haversack, squeezed in some time to prepare some food before she ran downstairs just in time to hop on the bus.

“Ji Eun!!!” Jinhwan greeted excitedly as he opened the door and welcomed her in. “It’s been so long!”

“Hey!” She responded with a wide smile on her face. “Yeah it’s been too long, I’ve missed you guys so much! Oh I made some food for you guys, it isn’t anything much but I hope y'all would like it, figured you guys might be interested in some supper hehe.”

The boys who had been just lying around in the living room exchanged hellos and cheered upon seeing the food she had prepared.

“We saw some of the pictures from the concert on facebook, it looked really good! Congrats!” Hanbin said.

“You lost some weight though,” Yunhyeong added. “Eat with us, get Bobby hyung to come out and join us!”

“Is he asleep though?” She asked, observing how he didn’t come out of his room despite all the commotion.

“He was lying in bed a while ago, but I don’t think so,” Hanbin answered.

She excitedly ran over to knock on his door and entered the room, jumping up and landing lightly on top of Bobby who was under the covers in bed with a huge smile plastered on her face.

“Hey,” He greeted her with a small smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Hi,” She giggled. “Were you going to sleep?”

“Nah, just tired,” He told her, and then sat up at the edge of the bed.

“You don’t even look half as excited as I am to see you,” She said jokingly, though she sort of meant it seeing how he didn’t react as greatly as she expected him to.

In response, he merely let out a small laugh and looked down on the floor, somewhat distracted.

She narrowed her eyes and sat beside him, concerned, “You okay…?”

“Yeah I told you, I’m just tired,” He replied flatly, surprising her a little.

“I um…made some food,” She said in an attempt to cheer him up guessing that he was in a somewhat bad mood, then took out a tupperware from her haversack and removed the lid. “Kimbap. Hehe geddit.”

He didn’t seem to be in the mood for jokes though as all he did was nod in reply.

“So…what did you do today?” She asked.

“Show Me The Money in the early afternoon,” He said.

“Aye that meant that you could’ve made it for my concert,” She said, jokingly sulking a little though she was perfectly alright that he didn’t attend it.

“Well which part of ‘I’m tired’ do you not understand?” He replied, turning to look at her with an unfriendly gaze.

Puzzled at the way he was behaving, she raised her eyebrows, “What’s wrong with you today…?”

“Well then what’s wrong with you why are you letting so many guys get their hands all over you?” He questioned, unable to hold it in anymore and throwing his phone at her direction.

The phone screen showed the facebook page where several photos that had been taken that night were posted. Her costume revealed a large amount of her skin, leaving her midriff bare and some of the guys who had requested to take some photos with her had their arms wrapped around her waist, their hands in contact with her skin which undoubtedly made Bobby feel a tad bit uncomfortable especially since he didn’t even get anything close to a hug being apart from her the past few months.

She sighed, “They were just posing for a photo, it's nothing to get so worked up about...”

“How about this?” He asked again, raising his voice a little then swiped his finger across the screen to the next photo that showed a guy planting a kiss on her cheek while she blushed and laughed.

“I didn’t know he’d do that, I was surprised too…!” She tried to defend herself.

He breathed out loudly, annoyance evidently shown on his face.

“So you’re being so cold towards me because of these?” She asked incredulously. “Seriously? That’s why you’re mad?”

“Tell me how can I not be mad with all these guys touching my girlfriend all over!”

“You have girls touching your abs and what not all the time too, that doesn’t make it any much different!”

“It’s annoying, okay, how I didn’t get to see you for more than a month and you fall asleep all the time we have a conversation on the phone and now I’m seeing all these pictures, and how they get to have their hands on you more than I did the past months though I’m your boyfriend!” He shouted.

“You’re not the only one with schedules, I had deadlines to meet too and not being a trainee like you are doesn’t make me any less human than you, I feel tired too…!”

“I’d see pictures of you on Instagram around your friends where you’d bother to dress up for them, and all these other pictures where you would look more than decent for a day at school but half the time when I see you it’s like you can’t even bother to put in a bit of effort. Who are you dating, them? And stop making food and things like that just to make me feel a bit better about myself, it just makes me more pathetic!” He blurted out at the heat of the moment for the sake of responding, then flipped the tupperware in her hands out of her hands, causing its content to spill out.

She stared at her hands that were now empty and the food and empty tupperware on the floor, then looked back at him in disbelief. She was speechless, she couldn’t even comprehend why he was acting this way all of her sudden.

BOBBY’S POV

I take that back, I didn’t mean that. Oh god, what am I doing?!

The expression on her face hardened and hurt was evident in the way her eyes started to redden and moist. What did I just do?

“Yaaa what’s going on?” Jinhwan barged in upon hearing the commotion.

“Hey…talk things out nicely, there’s no need to shout at each other like that,” Hanbin said cautiously as he followed behind Jinhwan and walked into the room.

She looked at me with a firm gaze and spoke in a quiet voice, “It’s just difficult, y’know, especially when you don’t put yourself in my shoes… I wish I could tell others we’re together; I wish I could go out on dates with you so I could dress up for you. That way we could meet more often; I can visit you on set, and you can come watch me practice. You know, things like that. I don’t like wearing sweatpants and hoodies every time I’m with you. I’m just doing this to protect you, so that you don’t look like you’re out with a girl if we’re out in public. I didn’t know it looked plain and boring to you. But now I do.”

With that, she picked up her haversack and left the room, forcing an apologetic smile to the very dumbfounded members who were watching from the living room as she walked past them and out of the dorm.

I stood rooted to the ground, not reacting nor chasing after her as she walked out. A part of me couldn’t believe what I said and did while another part of me was still trying to process what she had said.

“Hyung…” Hanbin started. “You went a little overboard…”

“If you didn’t want to eat it you could’ve just passed it to us to finish it. You shouldn’t have flipped it when she spent time making food for you after her concert. It’s not like you don’t know how tired one can get after performing,” Jinhwan walked into the room and started clearing the food mess on the floor. “Did you even congratulate her or ask her how it went?”

“You can’t just vent your frustration on her just because you lost to Vasco hyung today...” Hanbin reasoned.

“I…I was just-“ I started, but couldn’t find the right words to explain myself.

I was stressed. But that wasn’t an excuse.

It was tiring, juggling two survival shows at once, writing and memorizing lyrics to songs after songs and living up to expectations. It was tiring finishing a rap battle and immediately rushing back to the practice room and running through a performance for the next day. It was tiring having no one to talk to, when my girlfriend falls asleep on the other end of the line every time I attempt to start talking about these. It was tiring that the person I’d like to look to for comfort was almost perpetually unavailable. It was frustrating to come home after a long day to see her on Instagram having fun with her other friends in school, yet having no time for me. It was annoying to see guys with their hands on her while she smiled so brightly at the camera.

But these weren’t excuses.

I let out an exasperated sigh, burying my face in my hands and laid back in bed. I ruined it. I ruined everything.

The boys had left the room after helping to clear the food mess on the floor, giving him some time alone. Bobby, on the other hand, had been rolling around in bed, frustrated and guilty yet too ashamed to do anything about it. He sighed once more, turned over and stared at the wall. It was only then when he took a quick glance at the clock on the wall to realize that it was already past midnight and there weren’t any more bus services available for her to travel anywhere. Her home was also too far away to travel by foot. Taking a quick look to where she had placed her haversack earlier, he noticed that she had left her hoodie behind in her haste, leaving her in only a thin pajama shirt and sweatpants in the chilly night especially since winter was approaching.

“I’ll be right back,” Bobby informed the boys in the living room as he rushed out of his room and hurriedly put on his shoes. “Could you guys take out some DVDs, pillows and blankets and let me use the living room for the night? You guys could use my bed if you need to.”

“Yeah sure,” Yunhyeong replied with an encouraging smile. "Hurry."

Meanwhile, Ji Eun was walking aimlessly out in the dark, her head hung low as tears streamed down her cheeks. She shivered every time the wind blew and she honestly didn’t know what she could do or where she could go. Despite not spending much time with him or seeing him recently, she caught up with his news be it through television or online, recorded his schedules on her organizer, sent him texts to encourage him before every battle on SMTM and made sure to catch it on television. Perhaps he didn't know, but she did. She admitted she was always the one falling asleep on the phone, but that wasn’t something she could control and that didn't meant she wasn't putting in any effort. She barely had enough energy to drag herself home from school on practice days, let alone staying awake on the phone whilst lying down in her soft bed every night. She also couldn’t get over his comment on the way she looked. That hurt.

Eventually, she found a nearby 24-hour convenient store, bought herself a warm drink with the little amount of money she had and sat at a table outside. She was too tired to continue crying, it was a long day for her, too. Her phone battery was dead, she had insufficient cash to get a cab nor clothes to keep her warm and she was exhausted, the only thing that lifted her heavy eyelids was the occasional cold wind that blew, making her shiver every time her eyes threatened to shut.

Bobby on the other hand, ran around the area looking for her. She couldn’t possibly have travelled that far, he thought. It was only after about a good 15 minutes later when he spotted her from a distance, a small smile of relief played on his lips but it disappeared after seeing how she alternated between rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself and how she covered every time she sneezed.

“Hey…” He approached her carefully and wrapped her hoodie around her shoulders.

Recognizing his voice, she didn’t turn to look at him but instead, put on the hoodie he had placed over her shoulders then fiddled with her a drink. A part of her was afraid of him because of what happened earlier, yet another part of her was feeling so upset with him.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” He scratched the back of his neck then took a seat beside her. “I…really didn’t mean to shout at you… I’m sorry for venting my anger on you, I shouldn’t have.”

Seeing how she still wasn’t saying anything, he reached for her hand and tugged on it slightly, “Babe…”

“Don’t call me that...”

“Ji Eun-…” He started, but was at a loss of words.

A long silence ensued, before she finally looked at him and spoke, “That hurt, it really did.”

“I know, I didn’t even know what I was thinking back then to have said all that…”

“It’s just…you’re not the only one who’s been stressed the past month, you’re not the only one who wanted support. And about me in hoodies and sweatp-“

“I didn’t mean that, really.”

“I just, feel comfortable enough around you to be bare faced and dress in my PJs. If we could go out on dates I’d look pretty for you too but…we can’t…and...I don't know...”

He didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know how else to explain herself when she herself found this argument so absurd and childish. This wasn’t necessary at all, trying to explain and reason everything only made it more ridiculous.  

He sighed, scooting closer beside her and pulled her into a tight hug. She tensed up at first, but as he placed his hand on the back of her head the way she liked it, she relaxed and wrapped her cold and limb arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest as tears of relief escaped from her eye.

“Don’t cry…please…” He said as he felt her small frame shiver in his arms. “I’m so sorry…”

He waited for her to calm down before he pulled away and cupped her face with his hands, using his thumb to wipe away her tears.

“I won’t be that tired as of today, I won’t be falling asleep on the phone anymore,” She said, subconsciously sulking. “I’m sorry about that.”

“I can meet you after you’re done with school too, on days when I have less schedules,” He said, then embraced her once again, turning his head slightly to kiss her hair. “I missed you, so much.”

“Me too,” She told him. “I was looking forward to seeing you all day. I missed you, everything about you.”

She pulled away to look at him, the way his long thin eyes stared into hers, his slightly plump chapped lips… Just simply taking in everything about him, everything she had missed.

He smiled, relieved to know she was feeling better, then leaned in to kiss her, her hands automatically wrapping around his neck bringing him in closer. He bit gently on her lower lip in a shy attempt to beg for entrance, which she willingly complied, the two getting lost in their own little bubble, the yearn for each other evident and it was only when they had to gasp for air did they break away from the kiss.

“You looked great in the pictures by the way,” He said. “I’m happy that your hard work paid off. I’m happy that you’re happy with how it turned out.”

“Thank you,” She replied, and her lips couldn’t help but form a smile when she saw the way his eyes turned into thin inverted crescents.

“C’mon, let’s go back up. I don’t want you to be catching a cold or anything,” He said, then picked up her haversack and slung it over his shoulder.

“I’m going to spend the whole night talking to you and asking you how you’ve been,” She said, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rubbed her arms to keep her warm. "Maybe then I'll understand why you were so edgy."

“Please do, I’ll stay up all night to answer your questions if I have to.”

"...B?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Me too."

"Good, cos imma make you make supper since you spilled the one I made. I'm hungry."

He chuckled, "I could even make you a whole buffet of food if you'd like if you aren't afraid of the possibility of getting food poisoning after."

" you." 

"I'll love you more if you would promise to wear slightly less revealing costumes the next time."

"Get lost."

"How about no. Hehe."

A/N: I edited this and changed the plot like a thousand times because I really wanted to write angst (how y would angry bobby be) (I keep imagining him rapping throughout the argument in his raspy voice tho HAHA) but then again bobby doesn't seem to be the type to get into a fight but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyways and that it didn't disappoint! I have this habit of not completing my chaptered fics so do feel free to request any oneshot scenarios I'll get to it if I have the time hehe comments are really really appreciated!! Thank you so much for reading ^^