Kwanghee took another drag. The smoke flowed from his nose in two thick streams. I angled my face toward the sun as he regaled me with the recent weekend of dancing, booze and a very persistent new friend.

 “If he’s stalking you, then why do you let him buy you drinks?” I laughed.

 “It’s simple, Dara. I’m broke.”

 I laughed again, and Kwanghee jabbed his elbow into my side when he caught sight of Jiyong walking toward us.

 “Hey, Jiyong,” Kwanghee lilted, winking at me.

 “Kwanghee,” Jiyong said with a nod. He dangled his keys. “I’m headed home, Butterfly. You need a ride?”

 “I was just going in,” I said, grinning up at him through my sunglasses.

 “You’re not staying with me tonight?” he asked. His face was a combination of surprise and disappointment.

 “No, I am. I just had to grab a few things that I forgot.”

 “Like what?”

 “Well, my razor for one. What do you care?”

 “It’s about time you shaved your legs. They’ve been tearing the hell outta mine,” he said with an impish grin.

 Kwanghee’s eyes bulged as he gave me a quick once-over, and I made a face at Jiyong. “That’s how rumors get started!” I looked at Kwanghee and shook my head. “I’m sleeping in his bed…just sleeping.”

 “Right,” Kwanghee said with a smug smile.

 I smacked Kwanghee’s arm before yanking the door open and climbing the stairs. By the time I reached the second floor, Jiyong was beside me.

 “Oh, don’t be mad. I was just kidding.”

 “Everyone already assumes we’re having . You’re making it worse.”

 “Who cares what they think?”

 “I do, Jiyong! I do!” I pushed open my door, shoved random items in a small tote, and then stormed out with Jiyong trailing behind. He chuckled as he took the bag from my hand, and I glared at him. “It’s not funny. Do you want the whole school to think I’m one of your s?”

 Jiyong frowned. “No one thinks that. And if they do, they better hope I don’t hear about it.”

 He held the door open for me, and after walking through, I stopped abruptly in front of him.

 ‘Whoa!” he said, slamming into me.

 I flipped around. “Oh my God! People probably think we’re together and you’re shamelessly continuing your … lifestyle. I must look pathetic!” I said, coming to the realization as I spoke. “I don’t think I should stay with you anymore. We should just stay away from each other in general for a while.”

 I took my bag from him and he snatched it back.

 “No one thinks we’re together, Butterfly. You don’t have to quit talking to me to prove a point.”

 We engaged in a tug of war with the tote, and when he refused to let go, I growled loudly in frustration. “Have you ever had a girl—that’s a friend—stay with you? Have you ever given girls rides to and from school? Have you eaten lunch with them every day? No one knows what to think about us, even when we tell them!”

He walked to the parking lot, holding my effects hostage. “I’ll fix this, okay? I don’t want anyone thinking less of you because of me,” he said with a troubled expression. His eyes brightened and he smiled. “Let me make it up to you. Why don’t we go to the Dutch tonight?”

 “That’s a biker bar,” I sneered, watching him fasten my tote to his bike.

 “Okay, then let’s go to the club. I’ll take you to dinner and then we can go to the Red Door. My treat.”

 “How will going out to dinner and then to a club fix the problem? When people see us out together it will make it worse.”

 He straddled his bike. “Think about it. Me, drunk, in a room full of scantily clad women? It won’t take long for people to figure out we’re not a couple.”

 “So what am I supposed to do? Take a guy home from the bar to drive the point home?”

 “I didn’t say that. No need to get carried away,” he said with a frown.

 I rolled my eyes and climbed onto the seat, wrapping my arms around his middle. “Some random girl is going to follow us home from the bar? That’s how you’re going to make it up to me?”

 “You’re not jealous, are you, Butterfly?”

 “Jealous of what? The STD-infested imbecile you’re going to piss off in the morning?”

 Jiyong laughed, and then started his Harley. He flew toward his apartment at twice the speed limit, and I closed my eyes to block out the trees and cars we left behind.

 After climbing off his bike, I smacked his shoulder. “Did you forget I was with you? Are you trying to get me killed?”

 “It’s hard to forget you’re behind me when your thighs are squeezing the life out of me.” A smirk came with his next thought. “I couldn’t think of a better way to die, actually.”

 “There is something very wrong with you.”

 We had barely made it inside when Bom shuffled out of Top’s bedroom. “We were thinking about going out tonight. You guys in?”

 I looked at Jiyong and grinned. “We’re going to swing by the sushi place before we go to Red.”

 Bom’s smile spanned from one side of her face to the other. “Top!” she cried, scampering into the bathroom. “We’re going out tonight!”

 I was the last one in the shower, so Top, Bom, and Jiyong were impatiently standing by the door when I stepped out of the bathroom in a black dress and hot pink heels.

 Bom whistled. “Hot damn, Mama!”

 I smiled in appreciation, and Jiyong held out his hand. “Nice legs.”

 “Did I mention that it’s a magic razor?”

 “I don’t think it’s the razor,” he smiled, pulling me out the door.

 We were far too loud and obnoxious in the sushi bar, and had already had a night’s worth to drink before we stepped foot in the Red Door. Top pulled into the parking lot, taking time to find a space.

 “Sometime tonight, Top,” Bommuttered.

 “Hey. I have to find a wide space. I don’t want some drunken idiot dinging the paint.”

 Once we parked, Jiyong leaned the seat forward and helped me out. “I meant to ask you about your IDs. They’re flawless. You didn’t get them around here.”

 “Yeah, we’ve had them for a while. It was necessary … in Busan,” I said.

 “Necessary?” Jiyong asked.

 “It’s a good thing you have connections,” Bom said. She hiccupped and covered , giggling.

 “Dear God, woman,” Top said, holding Bom’s arm as she awkwardly stepped along the gravel. “I think you’re already done for the night.”

 Jiyong made a face. “What are you talking about, Bom? What connections?”

 “Dara has some old friends that—”

 “They’re fake IDs, Ji,” I interrupted. “You have to know the right people if you want them done right, right?”

 Bom purposefully looked away from Jiyong, and I waited.

 “Right,” he said, extending his hand for mine.

 I grabbed three of his fingers and smiled, knowing by his expression that he wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

 “I need another drink!” I said as a second attempt to change the subject.

 “Shots!” Bom yelled.

 Top rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah. That’s what you need, another shot.”

 Once inside, Bom immediately pulled me onto the dance floor. Her red hair was everywhere, and I laughed at the duck face she made when she moved to music. When the song was over, we joined the boys at the bar. An excessively voluptuous platinum blonde was already at Jiyong’s side, and Bom’s face screwed into revulsion.

 “It’s going to be like this all night, Bom. Just ignore them,” Top said, nodding to a small group of girls standing a few feet away. They eyed the blonde, waiting for their turn.

 “It looks like Seoul threw up on a flock of vultures,” Bom sneered.

 Jiyong lit a cigarette as he ordered two more beers, and the blonde bit her puffy, glossed lip and smiled. The bartender popped the tops open and slid the bottles to Jiyong. The blonde picked up one of the beers, but Jiyong pulled it from her hand.

 “Uh…not yours,” he said to her, handing it to me.

 My initial thought was to toss the bottle in the trash, but the woman looked so offended, I smiled and took a drink. She walked off in a huff, and I chuckled that Jiyong didn’t seem to notice.

 “Like I would buy a beer for some chick at a bar,” he said, shaking his head. I held up my beer, and he pulled up one side of his mouth into a half smile. “You’re different.”

 I clinked my bottle against his. “To being the only girl a guy with no standards doesn’t want to sleep with.” I said, taking a swig.

 “Are you serious?” he asked, pulling the bottle from my mouth. When I didn’t recant, he leaned toward me. “First of all … I have standards. I’ve never been with an ugly woman. Ever. Second of all, I wanted to sleep with you. I thought about throwing you over my couch fifty different ways, but I haven’t because I don’t see you that way anymore. It’s not that I’m not attracted to you, I just think you’re better than that.”

 I couldn’t hold back the smug smile that crept across my face. “You think I’m too good for you.”

 He sneered at my second insult. “I can’t think of a single guy I know that’s good enough for you.”

 The smugness melted away, replaced with a touched, appreciative smile. “Thanks, Ji,” I said, setting my empty bottle on the bar.

 Jiyong pulled on my hand. “C’mon,” he said, tugging me through the crowd to the dance floor.

 “I’ve had a lot to drink! I’m going to fall!”

 Jiyong smiled and pulled me to him, grabbing my hips. “Shut up and dance.”

 Bom and Top appeared beside us. Top moved like he’d been watching too many Usher videos. Jiyong had me near panic with the way he pressed against me. If he used any of those moves on the couch, I could see why so many girls chanced humiliation in the morning.