WINNER, "Smile Again",  2014 S/S. (2014)

"That actually hit me with the lamp..." Bobby complained as he gingerly poked at Chanwoo’s stitches along his cheekbone, flinching at the slight sting that came with it. He hated showing his vulnerability, but he would never forget the painful experience of a glass lamp shattering against his face. More so, the fearsome look of rage in Nari’s eyes when she cursed him to the depths of hell.

Bobby’s mind wandered back to the previous couple of days when Nari had found out about her gun being in his possession, more so the fact that he'd actually shot from it.

"Why did you take it?!"

"I merely held onto it and forgot to give it back!"

"Two weeks late!"

"You gave me my last gun, why are you so mad now? It’s not like we haven’t shared stuff before!" Bobby had screeched as Nari ruthlessly chased him around the apartment, hurling all manner of objects and insults at him whilst on the warpath.

“I do not wanna’ know what he means by that…” Donghyuk muttered as he backed up into the doorway.

All 10 of the others stood pressed against the walls, windows, doorways and even on top of furniture in an attempt to keep out of Nari’s warpath, and all 10 of them wore a mixture of shock and fear on their faces as Nari raged on in spite of her injury. She didn’t let the numerous bandages around her ribcage stop her, she was out to kill Bobby – again.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Yunhyeong asked innocently enough.

"Not unless you wanna get hit too!" Seulgi scoffed as Bobby dove under a table for cover, but as soon as he got comfy, Nari began to wrestle his leg out from under. Bobby guessed Seulgi was more than used to Nari’s rages, or at least, that she’d seen her in action enough to know better than to get in her way. He wished someone gave him the memo, but he was too busy trying to crawl out from the other end of the table to complain.

"Give her one good hit," Wendy started, titling her head in observation of the scene, "She'll calm down a bit, especially if blood is drawn."

"And I thought Hyerin was a psycho..." Hanbin muttered as he scratched his head.

Hyerin merely looked at him for a second, and quietly thanked him for the compliment. Hanbin pulled a face, evidently charmed at her strangeness.

On the other hand, Nari managed to wrangle off Bobby’s shoe. He stood up on one end of the table, daring her to do her worst. When the shoe missed and hit the wall, Bobby taunted "Is that really the best you can do?"

All it took was for a smirk to appear on Nari's little face and the lamp went flying across the room before connecting with Bobby's face.

And here Bobby stood a few days later, contemplating how a 154 cm girl had the throwing arm of an Olympic Athlete and a temper like a Spanish Racing Bull.

But he couldn't help but laugh at the novelty of the situation; Nari hadn't spoken a word to him since then, and every time he’d tried to make conversation, it was like breaking the ice with her all over again. Bobby was so close to beginning to understand what exactly made Song Nari tick, understanding the truth behind the myth that she was. Yet here she was, burning holes into his back every time she glared at him and refusing to acknowledge his existence if he said something.

But now Bobby was determined to get her talking again. Their conversation from when she awoke may have been more about him opening up, but it was still a start in her getting to trust him and his brothers. He was still mad at her for storming ahead without telling anyone, but Bobby wanted nothing more than to show Nari that being part of a team wasn't as bad as it seemed, and that to stop this war, they had to learn to trust each other.

"But she's making that pretty darn difficult..."

"What's that?" Jinhwan popped his head in the bathroom at the sound of Bobby's mumbling.

"Nothing,"

Jinhwan nodded, apparently okay with his bad explanation, "Hyerin and I are gonna get some food, wanna come?"

Bobby couldn't help but smirk at his Hyung's offer, "Nah, you're alright, I wouldn't wanna interfere."

Jinhwan shrugged, "Okay. Good luck getting Miss Sleepy-Head to talk."

Bobby laughed - Jinhwan knew exactly what his intentions were, just the way Bobby had cracked his. That’s why Jinhwan was always the one who maintained the group dynamic; he knew everyone too well to ever let things turn sour, and he’d always go out of his way to ensure this dynamic was harmonious and nothing other. He was the older brother of the group, but he was also the Eomma.

And now, Eomma’s got a crush…

After splashing some cold water on his face, Bobby grabbed a glass of water from Nari’s kitchen and began to think over what he'd say to her when he got the chance to corner her. He was still so surprised that she hadn't revealed how she'd acquired this place. A place this concealed wasn’t one someone just stumbled upon, so she must’ve been given, (or very well, stolen) it for them to remain here undetected for so long.

Maybe she'll tell me if I ask nicely.

"Why are you looking so distressed?" Hanbin asked as he sat on the counter, and eyebrow raised at Bobby’s pouting. Bobby’s thinking face no doubt.

"Nothing!"

"Sure sounds like nothing," Hanbin scoffed as a bag of nuts appeared from nowhere and into his hands, "Where is everyone?" He asked as he threw a handful of cashews in his mouth.

"The children went to go for a movie and target practice-"

"Great combination,"

"-And Jinhwan and Hyerin-sshi went out for food."

Hanbin stopped chewing his cashews suddenly, his mouth still jam-packed, "You' know where?"

Bobby shrugged, confused at Hanbin’s sudden interest "They just left-"

Before Bobby could even finish his sentence, Hanbin jumped off of the kitchen counter and sped for the door, leaving his cashews spewing out of the bag on the floor. Bobby stared at the bag of cashews incuriously, still trying to process what exactly just happened. But as he was still trying to put 2 and 2 together, Nari stormed in.

“Yah! This isn’t a youth hostel that you boys can mess up as you please! Clean this up!”

It wasn’t the reunion Bobby was secretly hoping for, but it was a start in getting back on Nari’s good side.

~

“Okay, all traces of food are cleaned up from the floor, are you satisfied?”

“Not in the slightest?”

“What should I do next?”

“Jump over the balcony - that would be great.”

“Then who would clean up my body parts, huh?” Bobby questioned as he let the broom fall from his hand and clatter on the floor, “That’s only more mess for you!”

Nari pressed a hand to her head, “Even in death you’d still be out to get me.”

“Me? Out to get you?”

Bobby could see where she was coming from; ever since they’d met, they were constantly in each other’s way, unable to get along and unable to work efficiently with one another, not to mention their clashing personalities and tactics – of course such rivalry would be natural! In fact, Bobby was still fairly certain that he hated this girl. But if he could just get her trust, then perhaps their ‘investigation’ would run a lot smoother.

“Well? Are you going to-“

“Nari, I’m sorry.”

Nari stared at Bobby from across the room, arms crossed and face blank. He wished he could see what she was thinking; whether or not she still wanted to kill him, and whether or not she was willing to cooperate.

“You should be.”

“I’m serious.”

“Good.”

“This girl,” Bobby shook his head, chuckling ruefully to himself as he picked up the broom from back off of the floor, “I try to be the good guy instead of the for once, and she throws it back in my face!”

“Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here!” Nari complained as she stalked closer to him, “You can’t ever be the good guy Bobby! You’re from YG!”

“Will you stop thinking that this war is between us?!” Bobby snapped, letting the broom fall from between his fingers again, “If getting shot five times isn’t enough evidence that this war is bigger than the both of us, then you should probably see a neurologist!”

“This is what infuriates me!” Nair threw her hands in the air, “You’re so damn immature! How can you expect us to take you and your Rookie squad seriously when you can barely take yourself seriously?!”

“And how do you suppose we work with you when you can barely trust yourself?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nari spat, getting dangerously close as she stared up into his eyes with pure contempt.

“You’ve been gone for so long that you don’t even know this city anymore!”

“You little-“ at that second Nari dived at Bobby, tackling him to the floor in the blink of an eye before she started throwing punches at him without remorse. Bobby managed to duck out of the way of a few before he was able to roll her over and pin her hands and body down.

“Hit me!” She taunted as she writhed around beneath him, her eyes burning with the fire of a hundred suns, “Let me see if you’re worth the pain!”

“I’m not going to hit you!”

“What? Because I’m a girl?!”

“If the girl thinks she’s big enough to throw a punch, then she can take it!”

“Then why won’t you hit me!”

“Because I don’t wanna’ be sorry for anything else when all I want is your trust!”

Nari stared up at him for a moment, piercing dark eyes filled with sadness, an unregistered longing for someone to understand her. Bobby glimpsed that vulnerability in her again; only this time, he wanted her to know she wasn’t alone.

“I-“