GD left the choreographer's office at about ten to 8:00, feeling satisfied.  Although their summer promotions had just ended, he had some plans for the coming winter that he had wanted to get an early consultation on, just to get ideas flowing.  They'd made plans to meet periodically over the next few months until the official preparations began.

He glanced at his watch, surprised to see that the tutoring lesson would be starting so soon.  Although he had gotten to the office nearly an hour before, he had waited over 20 minutes before the choreographer actually arrived.  Not that he'd minded.  It had given him a chance to eat the breakfast he'd brought with him.  Frankly, he was just happy to be able to start discussing his next project.  As much as he appreciated a chance to relax from performing once in a while, he was the type who couldn't do nothing for long.

Being just on the opposite end of the floor from the choreographer's office, GD made it to the tutoring room in less than a minute, still almost 15 minutes early for class.  Just as he turned to walk inside, he nearly smacked into Teacher Park, who was hurrying out.

"Jiyong-ah, I'm sorry!" she cried in surprise, steadying herself. "I must be more careful hurrying around like that..."

"No, no, I'm sure it was my fault," GD responded cheerfully. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, just to make a few copies," she answered sunnily. "I can't believe I forgot to do it last night."

"Would you like me to go do it for you?" he offered politely.

"Ah, no, no, but thank you.  Just sit and relax for a few minutes until I get back.  Caden ssi is in there to make sure you all don't cause trouble," she teased.  Then her face lit up,

"Oh, by the way - Caden ssi told me about you helping her out last night.  I'm so happy to see that you all seem willing to look after your teacher so well!"

"It was nothing really," GD responded, a little embarrassed by her praise. "I would have done the same for you, teacher."

"I know you would," Teacher Park said happily, patting his arm affectionately.  Then she turned slightly serious. "I'm glad that there is someone I can rely on to look after Caden ssi once I leave."  She paused to glance inconspicuously over her shoulder to see if they were being overheard.  As she did this, GD wondered about her choice of words.  Normally when discussing the expectation that students mind their teacher and treat them well, they were told to 'take care of' them.  Teacher Park asked him to 'look after' Caden, which implied someone older - a sibling or uncle looking after a younger person.  It could even be used in the sense of one babysitting the other.  Teacher Park looked back at him and continued,

"Although Caden has only been under my care for a short time, I've become rather attached to her.  She's an incredibly capable person - teacher or otherwise, but... she is a young woman in a foreign country, after all.  She may need different sort of care than I, or the average Korean teacher, might.  As her students, you have a certain responsibilty.  Especially you, Jiyong-ah.  You speak her language the best, plus you're a naturally chivalrous boy and leader.  So I'm counting on you - if she might ever need anything."

GD blinked, unsure of how to respond to this.  Teacher Park laughed slightly, shaking her head,

"Ah, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to make my request sound so dire. Don't worry - I'm sure that nothing drastic will happen to any of you in my absence.  I just wanted to know that you're the type of student I can count on."

GD smiled understandingly, relieved.

"Of course, Teacher Park," he said. "You can count on me."  She smiled happily before looking stricken,

"Ah, I'd better hurry and get these copies made.  You go in first.  I'll be back shortly!"  With that, she rushed off down the hall.

GD watched her go with the beginnings of a warm and fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He smiled to himself and turned to finally enter the classroom.  The rest of the group, minus Top, was already sitting at their tables, chatting and joking around with each other.  They called their greetings when he walked in, then promptly returned to their conversation.  

GD glanced over to see Caden sitting behind the desk at the front of the room, as always deeply engrossed in looking over Teacher Park's lesson plan.  The warm feeling in his stomach grew and he casually made his way toward her.  Caden, who hadn't noticed him walk in, seemed to sense his presence as he approached.  She looked up and smiled pleasantly at him.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully in Korean.

"Good morning," he responded politely.  Then he grinned, "So did you enjoy my choice last night?"  She looked confused for a moment, then laughed when she realized what he was talking about.

"Yes!  I ate the snack-pack for dessert," she grinned. "It was really good.  Like a sweeter, cookie version of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."  GD laughed at this.

"Yep," he confirmed. "That's why I like them."

"Now I just have to try all the others I bought to see if those are my favorite too."

"You can let me know your choice once you're done experimenting," he joked.  She laughed and he grinned in return, turning away and walking over to the other members, plopping down beside Young bae.

"Hey, how come you're only here five minutes early when you got to the studio forever ago?" Seungri demanded as soon as he sat down.  GD started to explain, and the conversation quickly returned to the chatting and joking that their conversations generally consisted of.

*     *     *

Caden smiled to herself as she watched G Dragon join the other boys in their funny discussion before glancing up at the clock.  There were only a few minutes left before the lesson was scheduled to start and Teacher Park still wasn't back.  Not to mention they were a student short.  She turned back to studying the lesson plan.  Not a moment later there came a deep voice, making her jump,

"Did you manage to pick up your groceries alright yesterday?"

Caden looked up at the looming figure before her to find Top, looking as if he were trying to keep from laughing at her (an expression that, she had come to notice, was a common one for him.  It may have passed up his blank, confused look for 'most common expression worn in her presence'), probably on account of her inappropriately alarmed reaction to his statement.  She smiled up at him weakly.

"It went... very well," she answered, not wanting to get into the details of her ridiculous incident trying to get her groceries home. "I got plently of food so that I don't have to mooch off Teacher Park anymore."  She paused, then grinned widely, opening to add something, but Top beat her to it,

"And did you have Teacher Park teach you how to say 'mooch off' to mark the occasion?"

"Yes!" Caden cried in genuine shock. "How did you know?"  Top chuckled at her astonishment.

"Wild guess," he answered pleasantly.  Caden shook her head, smiling.

"And what about you?" she asked teasingly. "Did you manage to entertain yourself after  I left?"

"I did, indeed," he responded, grinning broadly.  Then he had a flash of memory.

"Ah, that reminds me - I have something for you..." he told her, reaching into his pocket.  Caden tried her best to minimize the perplexed look on her face, but apparently failed because when Top glanced back up at her, he had to  force himself not to laugh in her face once more.

"Don't look so horrified," he teased, causing Caden to feel a strange sense of deja vu, "it's not much, I promise.  I was in the mall after I left Teacher Park's and this reminded me of our conversation."  He opened his hand to reveal a plastic bubble-like container that you find in the toy machines often found in malls and arcades where you put in a few coins and twist the handle until a prize comes out.

Caden took it carefully, looking it over.  Inside was a tiny, pink, plastic ring with a little cartoonish butterfly on it.  She stared at it in confusion before looking up to find Top grinning down at her.

"Nabi," he stated triumphantly.  She stared at him for another moment, wracking her brain, when she suddenly remembered.

"Oh!" she cried, looking back down at the ring.  So that's what he'd been trying to describe the night before. "Nabi!"  Top laughed outloud at this.

"Yes.  I thought this would be a good way to explain it," he said, the container in her hand. "These rings usually cost about 25 cents, but the machine I got it from also had rings with teddy bears and rainbows; it took me five tries before I got the right one.  So you can say this ring that I gave you is worth five ordinary rings."  He grinned proudly and Caden couldn't help but smile back.

"What did you do with the other four?" she asked after a moment, unable to think of anything more appropriate to say.

"I gave them to a group of mothers who all had little girls," he answered brightly.  Caden smiled at this.

"Well... thank you very much for the gift," she said politely.  She closed her hand around the container protectively. "And thanks for teaching me a new word."  She looked up to see, to her slight surprise, Top giving her a real, genuine smile.

"This way you can never forget the meaning," he said, indicating the butterfly ring.

"Thanks," she repeated, smiling weakly as he turned to walk over to the tables where the other boys were sitting.  Caden watched his retreating back, then looked down at the item in her hand.  She smiled to herself before slipping the gift carefully into her purse.  Just as she turned back, Teacher Park came bustling in, looking rather frazzled.

"I'm sorry it took so long," she apologized. "The copy machine I was trying to use got jammed."

"Don't apologize," Caden insisted. "You're right on time anyway."  Teacher Park grinned, gathering her materials into one orderly pile.  Caden hesitated before clearing pointedly,

"Um, Teacher Park?"

"Hmm?" the woman responded rather distractedly, still sorting her teaching supplies.

"What is the word for the process in which caterpillars become butterflies?" she asked in English.  Teacher Park looked up now, slightly perplexed by the question.

"Well," she answered thoughtfully, "I suppose it would be 'metamorphosis'..."

'Metamorphosis,' Caden thought, remembering back to what Top had said the night before: 'That's quite a metamorphosis... you know, what nabi do...'

"Butterflies," Caden murmured to herself, smiling happily at her newly acquired vocabulary.

"Caden ssi, what brought this up?" Teacher Park asked curiously, once again in Korean.  The question jolted Caden back to reality; she realized how strange her question must have seemed.

"Oh... just curious to know how certain words translate," she stammered, trying her best not to come across as a complete nutcase.  Teacher Park smiled at this.

"Good, good," she said, patting Caden's shoulder affectionately. "It's nice to train someone who takes initiative."  Caden smiled sheepishly, embarrassed by the praise.  Teacher Park smiled back before turning to face the members,

"Alright.  I apologize for the delay.  Let's begin the lesson."

*     *     *

GD had been so caught up talking with the guys that he hadn't noticed Top's appearance at first.  It was only because he happened to look up just as Top was turning away from the tutor's desk that he'd noticed him approaching at all.  Top was walking toward him, wearing a rather smug looking smile.  When he caught GD's eye, the smile relaxed into a more normal, friendly one.

 GD smiled back, glancing behind his friend to see the girl staring at Top's retreating back with a rather dopey smile on her face.  Then she turned her attention to something small in her hand that he couldn't make out, smiling again before reaching down to put the item carefully into her bag.  GD turned his attention back to Top, who had just plopped down at the table next to him.

"So where have you been?" he questioned as casually as he could manage.

"Ah, I woke up late this morning, so I had the others go ahead of me," Top answered.  He glanced at his watch and grinned. "It looks like I still made it on time though."  GD nodded, but didn't respond.  He glanced up to see that Teacher Park had also arrived now and appeared to be chatting with the tutor.  He watched as Teacher Park patted Caden's shoulder affectionately.  He smiled at this, turning back to the conversation that Top was having with the others from across the front of him.  They all continued to joke around until Teacher Park called their attention and begin the lesson.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N

Here we are - the rest of the part that began in the last chapter. :D

I hope you all like it.  Personally, this chapter amuses me. :P

The next chapter will probably be up in a few days, but I'm not sure exactly when because I'm planning on focusing on writing new material for the story, rather than getting the older stuff typed up (because I have this strange habit of writing in a notebook instead of on the computer.  Crazy, right? :P), but I'll try not to leave you hanging for too long. :D

I love reading comments and subcribers equal love in my eyes. :P

Please look forward to future chapters!  I hope this story is as fun for you to read as it is for me to write. :D