“Hey!” GD lightly punched Seungri’s shoulder. “What’s the big idea exchanging numbers with Andy?”

“It’s not a big deal, Hyung,” Seungri answered, surprised. “Just making new contacts in the skating world. Why?”

“Nothing,” GD grumbled, glaring at Seungri’s phone.

“Look, Hyung.” He turned his phone so that GD could see the screen.

Ji Yong read the new saved contact name and grinned. ‘Hyung’s wife.’ Scratching his head, a little embarrassed at his jealous reaction, he apologized.

“It’s alright, Hyung. But… You don’t have her number yet, do you?”

“Aye, what are you saying?” he defended, crossing his arms.

“No way!” Young Bae cut in. “You haven’t exchanged numbers? It’s been like 2 months. What are you waiting for?”

Ji Yong groaned. “I don’t know! Every time I start to ask, we get interrupted or she says something else. If she was Korean, I would just take her phone and program it. I just can’t tell if she’s really into me or not.”

“That’s why you need her number!” Dae Sung argued. “You can tell by the way she responds to your texts.”

“Exactly!” Seungri agreed. “Plus, she’s friendly. As easy as I got her number, she won’t reject you.”

“Just hand her your phone, I bet she won’t even make you give her an excuse,” Taeyang added confidently.

“Besides, Ji Yongie, she likes you,” Top clarified.

“You think?” he asked softly, but hopeful.

“Definitely,” Top responded swiftly. “Although her style seems a bit…” He gestured between Taeyang and Daesung.

“Hey!” they protested together.

“You’re just jealous that you’re in the bottom two, for once.” Daesung smirked.

“Ji Yong-ssi,” a PD stuck his head in the studio, cutting off Top’s protest. “We’re ready for your interview.”

“Yes, I’ll be right there,” he answered.

In the hall, he saw Andy was, once again, stopped by iKon.

“Hyung,” BI greeted, seeing him first. “We were just discussing which concert to invite Andy-ssi to.”

Ji Yong looked over her shoulder, seeing her save ‘iKon BI’ as a new contact. Frowning, he took her phone and dialed his own number, calling himself, before handing it back.

“I’ll arrange it,” he declared, leaving for his interview.

Andy stared after him for a few seconds.

“I don’t think he liked you sharing numbers,” Bobby blurted into the awkward silence.

“Aye, say something that makes sense,” Andy laughed, glancing at her watch. “I have to get going. It was nice to meet you.”

Ikon returned her bow and watched her walk away.

“You know I was serious, right?” Bobby asked, wrapping an around his leader’s shoulders.

“Andy, do you want to get dinner out?” Joon asked her, buttoning his coat at the rink’s door.

“Sure,” she responded, following him to his car. After buckling her seat belt, she turned her phone on, 6 text messages. Checking them, she got a ridiculous bubbly excitement seeing that two were from Ji Yong. Rolling her eyes at herself, she read his simple and short messages.

“What’s up?” Joon asked, glancing over at her.

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Ji Yong’s setting up a day for me to see iKon.”

“Ah.”

“Do you want to come? They seemed really nice.”

“Oh, I doubt that’s a good idea. You go, have fun.”

She frowned at his amused look. “Sure?”

“I’m sure.”

She wrote back to GD, explaining that her phone was always off during practice, feeling bad for taking four hours to return them. She was surprised that he responded almost immediately. They continued to make small talk as Andy waited on their food to arrive.

Joon sighed loudly, pouting dramatically. “If I knew you were going to ignore me and play on your phone, I would have just gone home and ordered something.”

“Sorry, sorry. He just keeps texting me back. I figured he’d be too busy for all of this.”

“He? GDragon?”

“Yeah.”

“Should’ve known; of course your husband takes precedence,” he teased with a grin.

“Stop it.”

“Unnie?” a soft voice interrupted them.

They both turned to the pretty young woman beside them as she snapped a picture.

“How could you do this to GD Oppa?” she scolded, angry tears in her eyes.

“Excuse me?” Andy asked, confused.

“I’m telling everyone that you’re cheating on our oppa. You’re not going to get away with this! How could you hurt him like this?” The girl stormed away, with a flash of flying hair, to a distant table with a group of glaring girls.

“Wow,” Andy said, amazed.

“That’s some pretty strong crazy,” Joon agreed. “Should you warn him?”

“Surely it’s not that serious,” she said, waving her hand as the waitress delivered their food.

Two bites in, she received a text message, then another, then a third. Then Joon’s phone rang. They stared at each other for a second before reaching for their phones.

“Oh my god,” she groaned. First her coach had text, then a few friends, finally a message from GD. In no time at all, the girl’s photo had spread, apparently she was part of his fan club. Someone had even tagged GD in it on Instagram, to make sure he knew.

“This is crazy,” she typed.

“It’ll be fine. Just send me a pic of the two of you real quick; I’ll take care of it.”

Not sure why, Andy slapped Joon’s arm, faked a smile and made him pose. She sent it straightaway with a question mark. A minute later, he sent her a link to his public Instagram. He had posted the picture with a caption: ‘Meeting my new brother-in-law tonight.”

“I’m close,” he text again.

“He’s coming to meet us for dinner,” Andy whispered.

“Seriously? Here?” Joon gestured to the shabby restaurant.

“He said he’s close,” she confirmed. Nervously, she looked from the staring girls, to the entrance, and back to Joon.

“Maybe he’s bluffing,” Joon suggested, eyeing the food in front of them.

“I don’t know.”

“Should we eat?” he asked uncertainly, stomach growling loudly.

“Maybe. But what happens if he shows up after we’ve eaten everything?”

“We scold him really loudly for being so late; I don’t know. What if the food gets cold and he never shows?”

“Ugh, this is frust- He’s here.”

Ji Yong had just walked inside the small shop, wearing jeans and a hoodie. Their eyes met and he smiled, approaching them.

Joon stood awkwardly as he reached them, each bowing to the other.

“Hello, sorry I’m late. I’m Kwon Ji Yong,” he greeted politely, shaking hands.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Kim Tae Joon.” He bowed again. “Please, sit.”

“Thank you.” He grabbed an empty chair from a neighboring table and sat beside Andy. “Sorry about this; it’s all I could think of. Luckily, I was just visiting a friend who lives nearby.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Andy said casually.

“Let’s eat, I’m starving,” moaned Joon.

“I know! I thought Coach was never going to let us go,” Andy agreed, taking a large bite.

Ji Yong took a bite of the plain rice that had just been brought over to him. He watched, eyebrows up, as the two skaters devoured the food in front of them, barely pausing to breath. It wasn’t until several minutes of dedicated eating passed, that Andy slowed down and looked at him.

“You’re not hungry?” she asked.

“I’m okay. It’s bad enough that I’m interfering like this; I shouldn’t eat your food too.”

“You’re not interfering,” Joon assured him.

“What are you saying,” Andy asked, not able to translate ‘interfere.’

“He thinks he’s in the way,” Joon said in English.

“That’s dumb,” Andy scoffed, put a piece of meat on GD’s rice, and returned to eating.

Joon smiled. “There’s plenty to share. Besides, your fan girls over there are probably watching.”

Ji Yong ate hesitantly, being careful not to take too much or too little. He felt awkward and out of place. Had he joined their date? Were they just teammates sharing a meal? They were both too busy eating to converse, so he couldn’t figure it out.

After some time, Andy sat back in her chair and sighed. “I’m stuffed.”

Joon shook his head, grunting, “Not yet.”

Ji Yong poured them both a refill of water, listening close to the English words, trying to keep up.

“Thanks. Ugh, I swear, the next time he wants to keep us late and not feed us, I’m rebelling.”

“Seconded,” Joon grunted again, around a mouthful of stew.

“Your coach made you skip dinner?” Ji Yong asked in English.

“Yeah, the tyrant. My arm’s killing me.”

“What’s wrong with your arm?”

“Do you need the hospital?” Joon suddenly asked, dropping his spoon.

“No, no. It’s not that bad. Just need to relax.”

“What happened?” Ji Yong asked again, but in Korean.

“Just training,” she responded.

Joon frowned even more, looking down at the table. “We’re learning new moves. I keep dropping her.”

“It’s not like that. I slipped as much as you did. I even cut you.”

“It’s not deep.”

They both sat quietly for a minute, frowning. Ji Yong felt a sadness creep over him at their obvious closeness.

“We just need to get down the timing,” Andy said.

Joon nodded and yawned.

“Let’s get out of here. Bomi’s waiting for me and I’m ready for bed. I’ll give you a ride,” Joon said, taking out his wallet to pay.

“I’m out of your way; I can take the bus,” Andy argued.

“Not with that crowd,” Ji Yong mumbled, nodding towards the dozens of people waiting outside.

“Oh man,” she sighed.

“I’ll drive you,” he offered softly, eyes flickering uncertainly towards Joon.

“Err… Are you sure? I-“

“Thanks, Ji Yong-ssi,” Joon cut her off. “She’s in the opposite direction and my wife is calling again.” He picked up his phone.

Ji Yong’s eyes popped at the word ‘wife’.

“You don’t have to-" Andy began, but again was interrupted.

“Kim Tae Joon-ssi is married?” he whispered.

“Yeah, to Bomi,” she answered. “Didn’t I tell you about Bomi?”

“You mentioned her a few times, but not that they were together.”

“Oh. Well… Bomi and Joon are married, by the way.”

He huffed a laugh. “Really? I had no idea.”

“Sorry.” Andy smiled at him.

“Alright, let’s go,” Joon said, putting away his phone.

“Just keep walking,” GD advised. “If you stop, you’ll get trapped. I’m parked to the right.”

“Me too.”

Ji Yong grabbed her hand and Joon put his hands on her shoulders. People shoved each other and pressed in on every side as the trio moved slowly towards their cars. Hands touched her and pulled at her. GD tugged her steadily onwards, Joon pushing from behind.

Someone yanked on her sore arm from the side. Gritting her teeth, she shrugged them off and grabbed Ji Yong’s forearm, fighting her way closer to him.

“This is insane,” Joon complained behind her.

Together, the three of them struggled to get Ji Yong’s car door open. Andy squished her way in and climbed over to the passenger seat, making room for GD to slide in. Joon watched carefully and shut the door behind them.

The two people of interest inside the car, the crowd eased up a bit and ignored Joon, allowing him access to his own car a few spaces away.

“He’s in his car,” GD confirmed. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”

“Good.”

He left the restaurant behind, before asking for directions.

“Err… I’m not sure. I always take the same bus.”

GD chuckled and opened his GPS for her to program. Not long after, they arrived in front of her apartment.

“Looks like a nice building,” he commented.

“It is. Thanks for the ride and everything. And sorry about dragging you out there,” she said, opening her door.

“Can I walk you in?” he blurted.

“Uh, sure. I am fine, though, you know?”

“I know. I just, I’ll feel better if I see you safely inside.” He groaned inwardly, his desire to walk her hand nothing to do with safety.

They entered together and GD followed her to the elevator, hovering awkwardly on her left. The ride up to the ninth floor was silent and uncomfortable. He followed her to a door on the left. She keyed in the code and opened the door a crack.

“So… this is it,” Andy said, feeling a little strange about the situation.

“Ah,” he said unhelpfully.

“I guess I’ll see you on Thursday, then.” She fidgeted under his gaze.

“I… Yeah,” he breathed deeply, “see you then.”

She stepped inside the apartment and shut the door. Feeling like an idiot, Ji Yong groaned, looking up at the ceiling. Just as he stepped inside the elevator, her door opened.

“Get home safely,” she called as the doors slid shut.

He rode down with a goofy smile fixed on his lips.