Na Ri felt his hands slide up and down her back as she kissed down the side of his neck. It was already pretty, but she thought that it would be even prettier with hickeys all over it. He moaned as she ground her hips against his, smiling Na Ri kissed back up to his jaw rolling her hips against him again to hear that his deep voice make that noise again. "Na Ri...please...." He rasped out his hands going to her hips and squeezing as she kissed along his jaw, running her teeth along his ear. He was biting his lip, trying to stay quiet, but the noises he was making sounded like music to her ears and she wanted to keep hearing them. found his and she nipped at his bottom lip, the taste of him was more intoxicating than any alcohol and she was looking to get drunk. She let out a shaky breath as she felt him play with the hem of her shirt, his fingers running over the bit of skin that was exposed. Shivering as his hands strayed under her shirt and up her sides, she bit down on the spot of his neck that sent him arching his back into her and low and load.

"Na Ri" He growled, his voice settling low in her stomach. 

Na Ri backed off slightly, only far enough to put some space between them so she could see her handiwork. Her arms were on either side of his head as she looked down at his messy hair and hooded eyes. His lips were parted slightly as he was breathing heavily. His tongue darted out, drawing her attention down as he pulled her back down to him meeting her lips halfway, hungry and searching.

Suddenly everything shifted and he was rolling her over on the bed, now she was the one underneath him. His mouth strayed down her neck and then she was the one as he found a particularly sensitive spot. "Taeyong" She gasped out as he bit down to leave his own hickey. 

Na Ri woke with a start, her breathing heavy as the feeling of Taeyong on top of her faded away with the dream. Holding a hand to her forehead she took a few breaths to calm herself, trying to ignore how much the dream had affected her.

Next to her Wendy was still passed out, still in a deep sleep and slightly snoring. After a few moments of lying there looking at the ceiling trying to coming back to realty she sighed and rolled over onto her stomach. It was still dark outside which meant it was much too early for Na Ri's liking. She tried to not think about the dream but that was easier said than done. Where had it even come from? Why was her subconscious against her now? The only other time she had, had a dream like that had been about Doyoung right before they had started dating. She quickly discovered reality was nothing like dreams when they did. 

She grabbed her phone from where it was charging next to her. 4:17 am shone back at her from her lockscreen. Na Ri let out a muffled groan as she buried her head in her pillow. She tried closing her eyes and going back to sleep, but as soon as she did the vivid images of the dream came right back. Tossing and turning for a few more minutes Na Ri eventually threw her legs out of bed and got up, resigned to the fact she wasn't getting anymore sleep, cursing Taeyong as she did. After changing into some jeans and an old sweater she grabbed her phone and a pair of shoes, which she quickly shoved on her feet. Na Ri slipped out of the room, leaving her friend and cousin still asleep in their beds.

Na Ri didn't really know where she was going as she walked through her resident hall. No one else seemed to be awake, at least no one sane or without some sort of priority. She spotted a few janitors and in the common room she found a student who had fallen asleep studying, but otherwise it was extremely quiet. Na Ri's penchant for sleeping in meant that this was a time of day that she normally never saw. She had to say it was surprisingly peaceful. She ventured out of the resident hall and into the early morning. Teh sun still hadn't risen and it was dark, but a comfortable kind of dark. She spotted some serious joggers out for a run and a professor on a bicycle. As she walked through campus she didn't really have a destination in mind but soon found herself in front of her favorite radio station. Na Ri knew the station was open 24/7, but had never been by so early in the morning. Pushing open the door to the station she entered the building. Normally there would be someone sitting at the front desk. Ten would do it from time to time, but Jae was the one who was there the most, but at the moment the front desk sat empty. She figured they didn't get a lot of visitors at what was now five in the morning. Going past the front desk she entered the sound booth to find JYP at the soundboard like always, his feet up on the console and his arms behind his head. Na Ri grimaced at the sight of his legs and sandaled feet on full display. She wondered if he ever went home, or if he slept there and was homeless like most people suspected. She was becoming more and more certain that he was the man she had seen dumpster diving at the Taco Bell nearby

"Na Ri... I had a feeling I would be seeing you today." JYP said turning his head to see her walk in. 

"Hey Uncle JYP," Na Ri said collapsing on the couch. She could see a boy in the recording booth talking into the microphone, but couldn't hear what he was saying. JYP probably had the show muted in the sound booth. She tried to recall what Seulgi had told her about the DJs working here. Was his name Brandon?  Or Bryant? It started with a Br, she knew that.

"Your balance is still very off." JYP noted, studying her through his sunglasses.

Na Ri grimaced. She did feel off balance and the dream had only made it worse. "Yeah, I just feel... I don't even know. Everything's messed up. I used to know how I felt about everything and it was all nice and neat and there was no conflicts, but now? Ugh... its all Taeyong's fault"

"The skinny boy?" JYP said, his voice sounding confused. "How is it his fault?"

Na Ri blushed. "I just... he..." Na Ri thought back to the first time she had hated Taeyong, trying to focus more on her frustrations than whatever feeling he was causing now. "I just wish he had never come here. I wish I had never met him. If he hadn't come here then everything would be fine right now." 

JYP brought his feet off the console and to the floor, leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his knees. "Gang Na Ri. Why do you hate the boy?" He said in possibly the most normal sounding voice she had ever heard from him.

Na Ri cast her eyes downward and fiddled with her hands. She had never told anyone the truth before. it was a secret she had kept close but now it weighed on her tongue eager to come out for the first time ever. "Well...um... if I tell you, you have to swear... on the universe, that you wont tell anyone." Na Ri said looking up at JYP. 

He nodded and held a hand to his chest. "I swear on the universe." He replied. 

Na Ri sighed and looked down, "I've... known Taeyong longer than anyone realizes," She started, looking back up at JYP who was listening intently. "Even he hasn't realized, which isn't surprising. We were in elementary school together and back then I was a chubby kid with way too big glasses, too afraid to speak." Na Ri took a breath before she continued. "I...had a crush on him...all throughout elementary school, but no one knew or at least I thought no one knew. He didn't even know I existed back then, like I said... I was too afraid to speak. But one day when we were 8 years old, this girl in our class named Mina found my notebook where I had written about it. She quickly told everyone about my crush and at lunch everyone circled around me and forced Taeyong over. Then she told him about my crush and what I had written. I was already embarrassed enough everyone had been teasing me about it, but then he... he-" Na Ri bit her lip and looked away, unable to meet JYP's eyes. "He laughed. He laughed and said 'Ew'" She said, her voice almost a whisper. The sound of the overhead fan the only other noise in the sound booth. The images of that day replaying though her mind like a bad dream. 

"I'm very sorry to hear that this happened to you," JYP said after a moment of silence, again in that serious voice she had never heard from him before. 

"I vowed to hate him forever after that, but then he moved the next year and I never saw him again. That is... until he showed up on campus one day. When I saw him... I felt- I felt like I relived that day all over again, but he didn't even know who I was." Na Ri shared clasping her hands together and looking to the side where a pile of old records sat against a wall leaning dangerously to the side like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

JYP nodded, quiet for a moment, "I understand now. The universe sent him here. It's giving you both a chance to reconcile and undo what's been done. You've been off balance for a long time then." He was back to talking in that odd way he normally did, as if he had one too many puffs of something that wasn't technically allowed on campus. 

"JYP I'm sorry, but... I don't really believe in all this universe stuff you talk about." Na Ri shared, looking at him apologetically. 

JYP shook his head and leaned back, "I know, but it doesn't matter. Does a tree need you to believe in it to grow? Do your friends need you to believe in them to exist? Whether or not you believe in what the universe is trying to do, does not change what is already happening. You feel so off balance because the universe is setting things right. When you've been out of balance as long as you have been, being set right is going to feel like the whole world is shifting."

Na Ri let out a little laugh, because he wasn't wrong. It certainly did feel like the world was shifting on her. "I just...don't know what to do... we have this stupid bet going right now and I told him that I would tell him why I hated him after it ended... but I'm afraid. I'm afraid that he'll remember all of it, and I'm afraid that he won't remember any of it."

JYP sighed, "Na Ri, its ok to be afraid, its ok not to know, but its not ok to let fear keep us from living. Don't miss out on what the universe is offering you because you got too stuck in the past." JYP gave her a pointed look. "Now get going. Our dear Brian will be finishing his show soon and Jihyo will be here any minute. I would imagine you don't want them to hear this conversation."

Na Ri gave him a small smile as she stood up, brushing her hands against the sides of her pants "Thanks Uncle JYP. You're the best professor here." 

JYP waved her compliment off, "I'm just here to help the universe." He replied.

Na Ri left the radio station feeling much better than she expected to that day. She promised herself that she would think more on what JYP had said, but first she needed to take a shower, and eat breakfast. She couldn't wait to see how shocked Seulgi and Wendy would be when they found out she was up even before the sun. As she arrived back at her residence hall the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, bathing its golden rays across campus.

WHEW wow. Ok so this chapter turned out much differently than I expected but I think in the best way possible. I'm VERY happy right now. 

Much Love,

Ashton