I awoke on my stomach, and tangled in Kwon Jiyong’s sheets. I kept my eyes closed, feeling his fingers caressing my arm and back.

 

He exhaled with a deep, contented sigh, speaking in a hushed voice. “I love you, Dara. I’m going to make you happy, I swear it.”

 

The bed concaved as he shifted, and then his lips were on my back in slow, small kisses. I remained still, and just as he had made his way up to the skin just below my ear, he left me to walk across the room. His footsteps leisurely plodded down the hall, and the pipes whined with the water pressure of the shower.

 

I opened my eyes and sat up, stretching. Every muscle in my body ached, muscles that I never knew I had. I held the sheet to my chest, looking out the window, watching the yellow and red leaves spiral from their branches to the ground.

 

His cell phone vibrated somewhere on the floor, and after clumsily searching the crumpled clothes on the floor, I found it in his jeans pocket. The display was lit with only a number, no name.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Is uh … is Jiyong there?” a woman asked.

 

“He’s in the shower, can I take a message?”

 

“Of course he is. Tell him that Sulli called, would ya?”

 

Jiyong walked in, tightening his towel around his water-splotched waist, and smiled as I held out his phone.

 

“It’s for you,” I said.

 

He kissed me before looking at the display, and then shook his head. “Yeah? It was my girlfriend. What do you need, Sulli?” He listened for a moment and then smiled, “Well, Dara’s special, what can I say?” After a long pause, he rolled his eyes. I could only imagine what she was saying. “Don’t be a , Sulli. Listen, you can’t call my phone anymore … Well, love’ll do that to ya,” he said, looking at me with a soft expression. “Yes, with Dara. I mean it, Sulli, no more phone calls … Later.”

 

He tossed his phone on the bed, and then sat beside me. “She was a little pissy. Did she say anything to you?”

 

“No, she just asked for you.”

 

“I erased the few numbers I had on my phone, but I guess that doesn’t stop them from calling me. If they don’t figure it out on their own, I’ll set them straight.”

 

He watched me expectantly, and I couldn’t help but smile. I had never seen this side of him. “I trust you, you know.”

 

He pressed his lips to mine. “I wouldn’t blame you if you expected me to earn it.”

 

“I’ve got to get in the shower. I’ve already missed one class.”

 

“See? I’m a good influence already.”

 

I stood up, and he tugged on the sheet. “Sulli said there’s a Halloween party this weekend at the Red Door. I went with her last year, it was pretty fun.”

 

“I’m sure it was,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

 

“I just mean a lot of people come out. They have a pool tournament and cheap drinks … wanna go?”

 

“I’m not really … I don’t do the dress-up thing. I never have.”

 

“I don’t, either. I just go,” he shrugged.

 

“Are we still going bowling tonight?” I asked, wondering if the invitation was just to get some alone time with me that he no longer needed.

 

“Well, hell yeah! I’m gonna kick your , too!”

 

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not this time you’re not. I have a new superpower.”

 

He laughed. “And what’s that? Harsh language?”

 

I leaned over to kiss his neck once, and then ran my tongue up to his ear, kissing his earlobe. He froze in place.

 

“Distraction,” I breathed into his ear.

 

He grabbed my arms and flipped me onto my back. “You’re going to miss another class.”

 

-----

 

After finally talking him into leaving the apartment long enough to attend history class, we raced to campus and slid into our seats just before Professor Lee began. Jiyong turned his red baseball cap backwards to plant a kiss on my lips, in full view of everyone in the classroom.

 

On our way to the cafeteria, he took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers as we walked. He seemed so proud to be holding my hand, announcing to the world that we were finally together. Kwanghee noticed, looking at our hands and then to me with a ridiculous grin. He wasn’t the only one; our simple display of affection generated stares and murmuring of everyone we passed.

 

At the door of the cafeteria, Jiyong blew out his last puff of smoke, looking to me when I hesitated. Bom and Top were already inside, and Kwanghee had lit another cigarette, leaving me to go in with Jiyong alone. I was certain the gossip had soared to a new level since Jiyong had kissed me in full view of everyone in our history class, and I dreaded walking out onto the stage the cafeteria presented.

 

“What, Butterfly?” he said, tugging on my hand.

 

“Everyone is watching us.”

 

He pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers. “They’ll get over it. It’s just the initial shock. Remember when we first started hanging out? Their curiosity died down after a while and they got used to seeing us together. C’mon,” he said, pulling me through the door.

 

One of the reasons I had chosen Seoul  U was its modest population, but the exaggerated interest in scandal that came with it was at times exhausting. It was a running joke; everyone was aware of how ridiculous the rumor mill was, and yet they all shamelessly participated in it.

 

We sat down in our usual spots with our food. Bom smiled at me with a knowing expression. She chatted as if everything was normal, but the football players at the other end of the table were staring at me like I was on fire.

 

Jiyong  tapped my apple with his fork. “You gonna eat that, Babe?”

 

“No, you can have it, babe.”

 

Heat consumed my ears when Bom’s head jerked to look at me.

 

“It just came out,” I said, shaking my head. I peeked up at Jiyong, whose expression was a mixture of amusement and adoration.

 

We had exchanged the term a few times that morning, and it hadn’t occurred to me that it was new to everyone else until it tumbled from my mouth.

 

“You two have just reached the level of annoyingly cute,” Bom grinned.

 

Top tapped my shoulder. “You staying over tonight?” he asked, his words garbled amid the bread in his mouth. “I promise I won’t come out of my room cussing at you.”

 

“You were defending my honor, Top. You’re forgiven,” I said.

 

Jiyong took a bite of the apple and chewed, looking happy as I’d ever seen him. The peace in his eyes had returned, and even as the dozens of people watched our every move, everything felt … right.

 

I thought of all the times I had insisted being with Jiyong was the wrong decision and how much time I had wasted fighting my feelings for him. Looking across the table at his soft brown eyes and the dimple dancing in his cheek as he chewed, I couldn’t remember what I was so worried about.

 

“He looks awful happy. Did you finally give it up, Dara?” Seungri said, elbowing his teammates.

 

“You’re not very smart, are ya, Lee?” Top said, frowning.

 

The blood instantly rose to my cheeks, and I looked to Jiyong who had murder in his eyes. My embarrassment took a back seat to Jiyong’s anger, and I shook my head dismissively. “Just ignore him.”

 

After another tense moment, his shoulders relaxed a bit, and he nodded once, taking a deep breath. After a few seconds, he winked at me.

 

I reached my hand across the table, sliding my fingers into his. “You meant what you said last night, didn’t you?”

 

He began to speak, but Seungri’s laughter filled the cafeteria. “Holy God! Kwon Jiyong is whipped?”

 

“Did you mean it when you said you didn’t want me to change?” he asked, squeezing my hand.

 

I looked down at Seungri laughing to his teammates and then turned to Jiyong. “Absolutely. Teach that some manners.”

 

A mischievous grin spread across his face, and he walked down to the end of the table where Seungri sat. Silence spread across the room, and Seungri swallowed back his laughter.

 

“Hey, I was just givin’ you a hard time, Jiyong,” he said, looking up at him.

 

“Apologize to Dara,” Jiyong said, glowering down at him.

 

Seungri looked down at me with a nervous grin. “I … I was just kidding, Dara. I’m sorry.”

 

I glared at him as he looked up to Jiyong for approval. When Jiyong walked away, Seungri snickered and then whispered something to Siwon. My heart began to pound when I saw Jiyong stop in his tracks and ball his hands into fists at his side.

 

Siwon shook his head and huffed in an exasperated sigh. “Just remember when you wake up, Seungri… that you bring it on yourself.”

 

Jiyong lifted Kwanghee’s tray off the table and swung it into Seungri’s face, knocking him off his chair. Seungri tried to scramble under the table, but Jiyong pulled him out by his legs and then began to whale on him.

 

Seungri curled into a ball, and then Jiyong kicked him in the back. Seungri arched and turned, holding his hands out, allowing Jiyong to land several punches to his face. The blood began to flow, and Jiyong stood up, winded.

 

“If you even look at her, you piece of , I’ll break your in’ jaw!” Jiyong yelled. I winced when he kicked Seungri in the leg one last time.

 

The women working in the cafeteria scampered out, shocked at the bloody mess on the floor.

 

“Sorry,” Jiyong said, wiping Seungri’s blood from his cheek.

 

Some of the students stood up to get a better look; others remained seated, watching with mild amusement. The football team simply stared at Seungri’s limp body on the floor, shaking their heads.

 

Jiyong turned, and Top stood, grabbing both my arm and Bom’s hand, and pulled us out the door behind his cousin. We walked the short distance to Morgan Hall, and Bom and I sat on the front steps, watching Jiyong pace back and forth.

 

“You okay, Ji?” Top asked.

 

“Just … give me a minute,” he said, putting his hands low on his hips as he walked.

 

Top shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m surprised you stopped.”

 

“Butterfly said to teach him some manners, Top, not kill him. It took everything I had to quit when I did.”

 

Bom slipped on her large, square sunglasses to look up at Jiyong. “What did Seungrisay that set you off, anyway?”

 

“Something he’ll never say again,” Jiyong seethed.

 

Bom looked to Top, who shrugged. “I didn’t hear it.”

 

Jiyong’s hands balled into fists again. “I’m goin’ back in there.”

 

Top touched Jiyong’s shoulder. “Your girl’s out here. You don’t need to go back in there.”

 

Jiyong looked at me, forcing himself to stay calm. “He said … everyone thinks Dara has … Jesus, I can’t even say it.”

 

“Just say it already,” Bom muttered, picking at her nails.

 

Kwanghee walked up behind Jiyong, clearly thrilled by all the excitement. “Every straight guy at Seoul U wants to try her out because she landed the unattainable Kwon Jiyong,” he shrugged. “That’s what they’re saying in there now, at least.”

 

Jiyong shouldered past Kwanghee, heading for the cafeteria. Top bolted after him, grabbing his arm. My hands flew to my mouth when Jiyong swung, and Top ducked. My eyes darted to Bom who was unaffected, accustomed to their routine.

 

I could think of only one thing to do to stop him. I scrambled off the steps, wheeling around, directly in his path. I jumped on him, wrapping my legs around his waist, and he gripped my thighs as I grabbed each side of his face, planting a long, deep kiss on his mouth. I could feel his anger melt away as he kissed me, and when I pulled away, I knew I had won.

 

“We don’t care what they think, remember? You can’t start now,” I said, smiling with confidence. I had more of an effect on him than I ever thought possible.

 

“I can’t let them talk about you like that, Butterfly,” he said with a frustrated frown, lowering me to my feet.

 

I slid my arms under his, interlocking my fingers behind his back. “Like what? They think I have something special because you’ve never settled down before. Do you disagree?”

 

“Hell no, I just can’t stand the thought of every guy in this school wanting to bag you because of it.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “This is going to make me crazy. I can already tell.”

 

“Don’t let them get to you, Jiyong,” Top said. “You can’t fight everybody.”

 

Jiyong sighed. “Everybody. How would you feel if everybody thought about Bom like that?”

 

“Who says they don’t?” Bom said, offended. We all laughed, and Bom made a face. “I wasn’t kidding.”

 

Top pulled her to her feet by her hands and kissed her cheek. “We know, baby. I gave up being jealous a long time ago. I’d never have time to do anything else.”

 

Bom smiled in appreciation, and then hugged him. Top had an uncanny ability to make everyone around him feel at ease, no doubt the result from growing up around Jiyong and his brothers. It was probably more of a defense mechanism than anything.

 

Jiyong nuzzled my ear, and I giggled until I saw Donghae approach. The same sense of urgency I’d felt when Jiyong wanted to return to the cafeteria overcame me, and I instantly let go of Jiyong to quickly walked the ten or so feet to intercept Donghae.

 

“I need to talk to you,” he said.

 

I glanced behind me, and then shook my head as a warning. “Now is not a good time, Donghae. It’s a really, really bad time, actually. Jiyong and Seungri got into it at lunch, and he’s still a little raw. You need to go.”

 

Donghae eyed Jiyong, and then returned his attention to me, determined. “I just heard what happened in the cafeteria. I don’t think you realize what you’re getting yourself into. Jiyong is bad news, Dara. Everyone knows it. No one is talking about how great it is that you’ve turned him around … they’re all waiting for him to do what he does best. I don’t know what he’s told you, but you have no clue what kind of person he is.”

 

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