Chani eyed Taeyang warily as the older male waved his banner around.

“She will kill you.”

“Oh come on, she didn’t kill you when you gave Cha Eunwoo her number.”

“Because she doesn’t know yet.” Zuho pointed out, the three were making their way towards the indoor pool’s stadium. Hwiyoung was right behind them, playing a game on his phone.

“I haven’t seen her, didn’t she~”

“Guys!”

The four paused and turned, Chani immediately sensed it, Dahye’s discomfort as she walked beside Rowoon. But it wasn’t because of the guy next to her, in fact, she was holding onto him.

“Noona,” Chani rushed to the girl, she looked at him and slowly shook her head. She puffed her cheeks before wrapping her arms around his neck, Chani blinked but he gently patted her back.

“Noona?” He spoke again, now he was getting really worried.

“What happened?” Hwiyoung asked, he noticed how Rowoon looked so tensed.

“Hwiyoung-ah, can you walk her in?” Rowoon spoke, Dahye pulled away from the male.

“I can~”

“Just let him walk you inside, we’ll be right behind you.” Rowoon said, his tone gentle but firm. Hwiyoung smiled at the girl and took her bag.

“Let’s go, noona.” He said, Dahye nodded and she let go of Chani. Rowoon exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair as he faced his friends.

“Hyung, what happened to her? Dani noona doesn’t just~”

“We were at the party; she went to the restroom. I saw her step out, she must be not feeling well, or something.”

Zuho’s forehead creased, he saw Dahye clutching onto Hwiyoung’s arm as they walked. The girl didn’t look like herself.

“And then, I realized she’d been gone for quite some time, I started looking for her. She was stuck in the ladies’ room. The lights were shut off and someone had messed with the door’s locks. I only found out she was in there because Dahye started screaming.”

“What?” Chani was stunned.

“I managed to get her out, but she claimed someone was in there with her. Dawon hyung checked, the restroom was empty.”

“Someone was inside with her? Who?” Taeyang shook his head.

“Dahye said it sounded like a man, he was saying all these weird things to her. But,”

Rowoon chewed on the insides of his cheeks before continuing.

“On our way here, I got a call from Dawon hyung, he was speaking with the hotel’s management. Someone had cut the wires to the restroom’s lights, and they realized that someone had broken in via the air vents leading to that very restroom.”

“Does she know?” Chani asked, Rowoon slowly nodded at him.

“That’s just sick.” Zuho spat in disgust.

“If I hadn’t gotten there in time…I..I don’t know what would have happened.” Rowoon exhaled.

“We’ve always been around her, have you guys noticed anything strange?”

“The…The other time noona and I were walking together, I can’t really remember when, but I saw some guy wearing a cap walking behind us. I..shrugged it off thinking it was one of Junhee noona’s guards, trying to check on her because she was a new face then.” Chani trailed off, his forehead creasing.

“Last week, I finished up late at the library,” Zuho begun.

“I saw this guy dressed in black lurking around the parking lot. He was staring at Dani’s car.”

“Is someone..stalking her?”

Dahye let out a shaky breath as she checked her reflection on the mirror attached to her locker.

“Dahye-ah, we’ll go ahead!”

She nodded at her fellow teammates and hurriedly tossed her things inside, she was about to lock in when her phone started to ring.

Dahye took the device out and immediately answered as she saw the name of the caller.

“Young miss,”

“That took a while, oppa.” She said, trying to sound cheerful. Her father’s secretary let out a small laugh.

“Well, what I’m about to say now might explain while it took some time to find out about miss Shin.”

Dahye sat down on the bench and stretched her legs before her.

“Why?”

“Everything about her was all strange, not a lot of photos of her online and it seems like information about her were being blocked. And, I made a few calls, I was informed that the Blue House is the one controlling her..online presence.”

“Blue House?” She repeated, her forehead creasing.

“Yes, miss Shin Junhee is the preisdent’s daughter, young miss.”

“Oh, Lee Dawon really did it.” Dahye murmured, she thanked the older male and put her phone back inside the locker. The girl put her robe on and made her way towards the door, she reached the pool and was surprised to find out that a lot of students had come to watch the meet. She tucked her hair underneath her swimming cap and made her way towards their team’s designated seats.

“You don’t have your bunch of jocks to protect you here. It’s just me and you, darling.”

“I’d love to hear you scream my name when I finally have you to myself, Dani.”

The girl paused and she quickly sat down, her fists curled tightly on her lap as she closed her eyes. Dani pinched the bridge of her nose before turning to the crowd, Taeyang’s bright yellow banner really did stand out and that amused her.

She heard her name being called, but she couldn’t peel her gaze off the banner. And then her eyes went to Rowoon beside Taeyang, he was busy typing on his phone, she chewed on her lower lip before standing up.

“Dahye, you’re up!” Her coach was calling to her and then her name was being announced in the stadium. Dahye exhaled and put her goggles on, she stood before the platform and looked at the water.

The girl glanced up again and realized that Rowoon was smiling at her from the bleachers.

Now, this is weird.

He’s the one seated at the bleachers.

Whoa.

The girl shook her head to herself, she heard the whistle, signaling the other athletes to get ready. Dahye crouched down, the second signal went on and she let her body be welcomed into the water.

“It sounds so wrong, but…it could be possible.” Hwiyoung murmured, Zuho shook his head and glanced at the doors again.

“I still don’t get it, why would someone go to that extent just to scare her?” Chani said, his forehead creasing.

Rowoon put his phone away, he chewed on his lower lip and he looked over to the doors again.

“Oh, Dahye’s here.” Taeyang announced, they all turned to the doors and saw the girl chatting with her teammates as they went out. She had a small polite smile on her face as she bid them goodbye.

“It looks like the water relaxed her a bit.” Chani commented, the girl had come in third place earlier, and they were all proud of her.

“Noona~” Hwiyoung paused when a familiar figure suddenly came up to her.

“Dahye-ah! Congratulations!”

The girl almost tripped in surprise when he appeared before her, she looked at him before speaking.

“What do you want, Jungho-yah?” She blurted out; the male chuckled before offering the bunch of flowers he was holding.

“I heard that it was your first ever competition here in campus, so,” He said excitedly as he grabbed her hand to put the flowers in her palm.

“W~”

“So, what?” Chani intervened as he stepped between him and the girl. Dahye was about to speak when the flowers were snatched away from her grip and soon, she was being pushed away from the two males.

“What’s with you guys?” Jungho started to laugh, Dani looked up, realizing that Rowoon was the one covering her from the other male, he had one hand on her shoulder, holding onto her.

“What do you want? You’re not even friends with her.” Chani commented, he had his hands in his pockets as he looked at the male.

“How are you feeling?” Rowoon asked quietly as he took her bag from her.

“Hungry.” She replied, a little distracted, he gave her a small smile.

“Let’s get something to~”

“I was only trying to congratulate her. She’s the one reason why I’m here, I wanted to watch her swim.” Jungho replied, Dahye saw how Rowoon turned his head.

“The meet’s over, you should go.” Rowoon stated, Hwiyoung and Zuho looked at each other, hearing the change in the male’s tone.

“Come on, I just wanted to compliment Dahye on her strokes, you know. Because, they looked perfect, her . Not her~” Jungho choked on his words when Rowoon suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

“Hyung!” Chani started to worry, Taeyang grinned in the background and slowly pulled Dahye away from the male.

“No one asked for your opinion.” Rowoon said, his tone flat.

“Looked at you, all tensed up. It’s just a~”

“Tensed up? You’ve been harassing her ever since she got here.” He replied, Dahye’s eyes widened when she noticed how Rowoon’s grip on the male tightened.

“Ya, aren’t you letting go? I’m going to report you!” Jungho tried to push him back, but the male didn’t budge.

“Rowoon-ah,” Zuho said, trying to warn him.

“She’s not even yours, soccer boy.” Jungho cackled, before Rowoon could react, he felt someone standing beside him.

“Hey,” Dahye spoke as she slowly reached for his other hand, his forehead creased.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry.”

 Rowoon didn't move, his eyes were still on Jungho as he tried to remove his hand on his throat.

"Rowoon-ah." She said carefully and his eyes went to her and he slowly let go of the male and pushed him back, Jungho was choking as gasped for air.

“Let's go.” Rowoon spoke as he pulled Dahye with him, Chani eyed Jungho with disdain.

“You’re all so tensed up, I just wanted to congratulate her on~”

Rowoon glanced over his shoulder again, his eyes blank.

“Ya, basketball freak,” Hwiyoung spoke as he walked up to him, Jungho faced the younger male.

“Dani noona is no one’s. And, I wouldn’t really suggest getting on Kim Rowoon’s bad side.”

Rowoon glanced at the girl as he started the car.

“Did you like the food?” He asked her, Dahye turned to him and nodded.

“I haven’t had that much pasta in a while, I loved it.” She replied as she put her seatbelt on.

“Are..you sure you’re okay, Dahye-ah?”

He noticed how the girl paused at his question, then she let out a small sigh.

“That won’t make it to my list of top ten parties I’ve been to, but, I’m…okay, a little weirded out, but I’m good.” She said, Rowoon nodded at her.

“I never got to thank you for kicking the doorknob down. Or, kicking it until it gave up.” She murmured.

“It’s nothing. I was worried when you disappeared.”

“Ah, no one to guide you through the whole corporate party thing? Good thinking.” She said lightly, Rowoon couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I was worried about you, Dahye. It wasn’t because of work.” Rowoon stated as he reversed out of the parking lot.

“You know what he said? That…voice?”

“What?” Rowoon replied, he glanced at her briefly and noticed she was playing with her rings.

“He said I wasn’t with my jock friends; I was all alone.”

“What?”

“I think he’s seen me at school. I mean, how would he know I have…” She puffed her cheeks and looked at him.

“What?”

“Jock friends. You. Chani. Hwiyoung. Not that, I stereotype, you guys.” She recited, Rowoon exhaled and nodded.

“What else did he say?” He asked, Dani looked at the window.

“He..wanted to have me, Rowoon-ah. I started panicking when he said those words. I didn’t mean to crash into you when you opened the door~”

“It’s okay.” He said reassuringly, Dani nodded and leaned back on her seat.

“Aside from the innuendo, that was it. He said things that made me think that he probably knows I’m a student at SNU and~”

“I’ll wait for you at the parking lot every morning.” Rowoon cut her off, she blinked at him.

“You don’t have to~”

“You just said so yourself, he knows where you go to school.”

“Yeah, but in broad daylight, really?” She scratched the back of her head.

“Just earlier you were shaking because of this voice and now, you don’t seem to care.” Rowoon trailed off, Dahye noticed how the corner of his lips were going up.

“I am worried about it, I just wanted to cheer you up because you’ve been Mister Moody ever since you had your grip around Jungho’s neck.” She pointed out while pretending that she was choking someone, Rowoon turned to her and he shrugged.

“Of course, I’d get that for a reply.” She murmured with a small grin.

“But seriously, thanks for that, Rowoon-ah.”

“Which one? The restroom incident or the Jungho thing?” He said playfully, Dahye chuckled at his reply.

“Both. I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow.” She promised before softly punching his arm, Rowoon nodded back at her. Dahye faced front and tied her hair up in loose ponytail, Rowon’s eyes went to her again and his brows rose.

I can be friends with you.

I can try.

But you’re Dahye. 

And that's almost impossible, because you're my ice princess.

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