Eunhee made Daeryong drop her off at school again, despite his unwillingness to leave her alone at night. But she told him it was another secret that she was keeping from him and he accepted it, as long as she promised to share the secret with him eventually. 

She agreed just to send him away but she wasn’t going to tell him anytime soon. She quietly slipped into bed that night and avoided Jinyoung like the plague the next morning. she made it to school and Jia was already there. 

“Hey, can we go out tonight?” Jia asked her, she seemed a little too eager for such an innocent request. 

“What do you have in mind?” Eunhee asked back, “I’m not a big partier, if that’s what you’re getting at.”  

Jia rolled her eyes at her, “Of course not, I know you. Just dinner, but I get to play dress up with you.” She said eagerly.  

“Nothing crazy.” Eunhee said, conceding easily. She could hear familiar footsteps coming up behind her and she had a smile on her face without thinking about it.  

“Good morning, Eunhee.” He said, putting his arm around her shoulders into a hug. 

A giggle escaped her lips, “Good morning, Daeryong.” She replied back.  

"Going on a date without me?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at Jia.  

Eunhee looked at him, reaching for Jia and clinging to her, "Girls only." She cooed, smiling at him. 

"Awww.." He said sadly, "It's okay, I couldn't make it anyway, I have a company thing that I have to go to tonight." Daeryong pouted. 

The three of them had started walking to class when Soryong joined them, "Don't be like that Daeryong. You know it's good for the company's image if we both attend." Soryong chided him. 

"But Eunhee is having girls' night..." Daeryong complained, but still smiling. "God, I didn't think I'd be jealous over a girl, Jia."  

Jia grinned wickedly, "I won't steal her away from you, Daeryong. Don't worry too much." She replied back to him. 

"Fine.." He mumbled, crossing his arms and slumping into his seat. Eunhee took her seat next to him and Jia turned around to face the front just as the teacher walked in. 

As the teacher lectured on, Eunhee fidgeted in her seat nervously, lacking courage, she sighed to herself once and Daeryong looked at her curiously. 

She shook her head and moved her hand over his, acutely aware of how warm his hand was. She also stopped paying attention to the fan girls who kept their eyes on her every move. She frowned when she realized Soyeon was staring at her again, hesitating she moved her hand away but he laced her fingers through his and refused to let her pull away. 

They said nothing as class droned on, she was grateful that she never took notes for class, not that she needed to anything. He took notes for himself, for once, probably because they were talking about economics. 

The whole day flew by as she realized that Daeryong refused to let her hand go for longer than five minutes. Through lunch, he let her eat but as soon as she was done, he took her hand back. In class he kept it hidden underneath the desk, knowing she’d feel more comfortable with him doing that. 

When the last bell rang, he let out a long, heavy sigh. “See you tomorrow?” He said, trying to sound somewhat cheerful despite the fact, he couldn’t take her out on a date today. 

Eunhee just smiled at him, “There’s school isn’t there?” She said jokingly. “I’m free tomorrow though.”  

Daeryong chuckled and smiled, “I’ll have to see, there might be another meeting for the company tomorrow, my father hasn’t set the date yet, so I can’t say.” He told her as they exiting the classroom. Jia followed closely but gave them their space, ready to take Eunhee whenever she was ready for their dinner date. 

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, for sure though.” She said, she looked around and noticed the hallway was very deserted all of a sudden. Daeryong looked at her in confusion, before she stood on her tiptoes and chastely pressed her lips against his.  

“Bye.” She mumbled quietly, turning on her heel and running away. Jia laughed at her loudly, running around the corner as well. Daeryong chuckled loudly, not bothering to chase her. 

“That’s not even a real kiss.” He called after her, turning to head out on his bike back to the house. 

Jia pulled her to her car, heading back to her apartment and she sat Eunhee down on her bed as Jia started rummaging through her closet. “So, maybe we should do this.” She mumbled to herself as she thought over different outfits in her head. 

Eunhee just sat there in silence, unconsciously smiling to herself as she thought about what she had done just earlier. That was the first time she had ever initiated, his attitude about the whole matter was contagious. She knew the girls would go crazy once they heard, but she wasn’t sure if she could be bothered anymore. 

He didn’t care, he didn’t want Soyeon, he wanted her to trust him. And she wanted to at least try a little. But he still couldn’t know about her. 

“Here.” Jia said, presenting her with the outfit she had created. It was surprisingly exactly what she was comfortable with wearing. A red pencil skirt for a splash of color, but a sheer collared white top and simple necklace.  

“Hurry up.” Jia said, not even letting her comment about the outfit. She scurried Eunhee into the bathroom and left her. Eunhee easily pulled it on and smiled to herself, admiring her reflection in the mirror. 

It was nice, she sighed, it was rather difficult, having grown up with Jinyoung around all her life, he was a good friend, but it wasn’t the same as having a girlfriend. Something she desperately missed having while her mom was still alive. 

She came out of the bathroom and Jia was already dressed in plum shade dress with a chunky necklace on. “Great. Let’s go.” She said eagerly, pulling Eunhee to the door, slipping heels on and handing her a pair. 

Eunhee groaned but put them on her feet anyway, she was surprised when they actually felt somewhat comfortable from the beginning and Jia smirked. “Don’t you dare complain.”  

“How do you even…?” Eunhee said, letting her unfinished question hang in the air between them. 

“I just know.” Jia said, shrugging her shoulders. “Now, come on I have reservations at this nice place, with steak and a spectacular view.”  

~ 

Daeryong adjusted his tie next to Soryong who was doing the same in the bathroom mirror. They had already arrived at the venue, but kept a low profile, too many women were here. Too many women who Daeryong had played with before. 

He groaned, thinking about how many of those women were outside waiting for him, to see him.  

“I told you, should’ve stopped fussing around earlier.” Soryong said, “But we need most of them to be on your side anyway, they’re sympathetic to you, aren’t they?”  

“For the most part, they all want to see me happy, even though they all hope it’s with them.” Daeryong sighed, “A bunch of them are just cougars though, damn, I was an idiot.” He mussed his hair and frowned. 

“So you’ve noticed then?” Soryong gloated, smiling, “But I’m glad you’re giving it up.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let’s go.” He mumbled, stepping out into the crowded room where everyone turned to look at the two of them. He greeted them all politely, making his way around the room to politely give his greetings to all the important people in attendance. 

He let all the women curl up into his arm if only for a split second before pulling away to greet some other official or employee that was nearby. Daeryong finally got through everyone and sat down, exhausted.  

It was exhausting to even think about playing nice. But all these people benefited the company somehow, and he wasn’t about to ruin the working relationships his father had created just because he was tired of seeing people. 

Soryong sat down in the seat next to him, “You should get some food.” He told him.  

“I will. Eventually.” Daeryong answered, taking out his phone. A part of him wished he had Eunhee’s number then he could text her through his boredom, but that would be interrupting her date with Jia.  

That confused him as well, what was Jia even doing there? And why had she insisted on being Eunhee’s best friend? Eunhee didn’t have anything that Jia would want.  

He frowned again, nope, he was probably overthinking things again. He stood up abruptly, shocking Soryong a little, “I’m gonna go for a walk.” He said, leaving the room entirely, he had to get away from this train of thought. It was too dangerous to keep this pent-up energy as well as make himself anxious like this. 

~ 

Eunhee sat across from Jia in the candlelit restaurant just as the fireworks started outside. She looked at it in surprise, she hadn’t expected it to happen in the middle of their meal and when she turned to Jia, Jia just smirked. 

They had gotten baby potatoes with their filet mignons and Eunhee was in heaven, she hadn’t had anything this gourmet before and it was incredibly delicious.  

But it did make her miss the little picnic basket that Daeryong had made for her. It was simple but she liked it a lot. 

“So, Daeryong..” Jia started with a sly grin. 

“What about him?” Eunhee asked her. 

“You like him for sure. But you’re not together yet.” Jia stated, rather than asked. 

“He’s promised to Soyeon, you know this.” Eunhee reminded her.  

“But he’s so into you. Did you ever figure out what I meant by the way?” Jia asked her. 

“Yeah, I did.” Eunhee mumbled quietly. “But nothing is going to change, he is still promised to Soyeon.”  

“I’m sure there’s a way around that.” Jia assured her. “Oh, by the way, if you’re not going out with him tomorrow night, you’re going out with me tomorrow night again.”  

“Where to?” Eunhee asked her, feeling at ease but part of it might have been the wine Jia managed to sneak into with their meal. 

“A club. I wanna take you to one, it’s really nice and the music they play is great.” She cooed sweetly. She knew Eunhee would want to say no, but noticing Eunhee hesitate was enough. 

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” Jia said, holding up her pinky. 

“Okay..” Eunhee agreed quietly. “Maybe.”  

Jia groaned inwardly, so close. “I’ll ask you again tomorrow, when you’re thinking clearly.” She reminded her. 

“Mhmm..” Eunhee just nodded, picking at her plate again. A club, without Daeryong? She had heard things about clubs before but, she wasn’t sure if that was really what she wanted to be doing. But, it would be fun with Jia at least.  

She frowned, yup definitely maybe. “We shall see.”  

Author's Note;;
Hopefully? idk. :o ._. 
I wanna get to this one scene for sure though.