Tuesday Night, Winter Break.

Ilhoon's car.

There was a strange atmosphere inside the car as Ilhoon drove without saying a word.

Hayoung and Naeun fidgeted in the back seat while Bomi snored and Namjoo sat in the front discretely trying to text Hayoung without Ilhoon noticing what she was doing.

Namjoo: Is it weird if I ask about his tattoo?

Hayoung: Don't T__T

Namjoo: But I'm dying to know and he's not gonna tell us if we don't ask.

Hayoung: It seems personal though.

Namjoo: LOL have I cared before? 

Hayoung: Asdfghjkl this is a bad idea??

Namjoo: Who cares. I'm gonna ask.

Hayoung: Unnie…

Hayoung looked up from her phone and shook her head vigorously at Namjoo but she was already tapping Ilhoon's shoulder.

"Oppa." 

"Yes?" Said Ilhoon, not taking his eyes off the road.

"That tattoo."

Namjoo pointed to Ilhoon's clothed arm and he shifted uncomfortably in the drivers seat.

"What about it?" He asked.

"That guy looked real scared when you showed it to him." Namjoo commented.

"And…?"

Ilhoon gave Namjoo a rather intense sideways glance as if he was challenging her to a dare.

Hayoung and Naeun exchanged anxious looks but Namjoo remained unfazed.

"You didn't actually join a gang did you?" She blurted.

Ilhoon did his best not to react but the girls could clearly see his grip tighten on the steering wheel.

"Well I wasn't given much choice in the matter." He said in a measured tone. "But yeah, I did."

"Heol daebak…when was this???" Namjoo asked with wide eyes.

There was a tense pause as Ilhoon turned a corner. He took so long to respond that the girls started to think maybe he wasn't going to give them an answer but he finally spoke.

"18. Officially."

"What do you mean officially?" Namjoo pressed.

The car jerked abruptly as Ilhoon hit the brakes at a red light. He rounded on Namjoo.

"Remind me why this is any of your business?" He asked, sounding annoyed.

"Uhh because everything is my business." Namjoo replied sassily. "It's not nice to keep secrets from your friends oppa." She added.

Naeun looked between Ilhoon and Namjoo with a growing sense of worry. The tension in the car was unmistakably rising and she'd had quite enough stress for one day already.

Hayoung laughed nervously beside her.

"Unnie…he's being nice driving us home maybe we can talk about something else?" She offered.

Namjoo turned around in her seat.

"No. This is interesting." She said to Hayoung in very loud whisper before turning back to Ilhoon.

"Well go on then. Tell us about how you joined."

The girls waited with bated breath as the sound of the blinker clicking filled the car and Ilhoon tapped his finger agitatedly on the steering wheel. This wasn't the kind of conversation he wanted to have with Naeun in the car but he knew Namjoo would just keep pestering him if he didn't talk. He tore his eyes away from the mirror and focused his attention back on the stoplight ahead of him.

"Kim Namjoo." He said sternly.

"Yes???"

"I'm going to need you to swear to keep this within the friend group only."

Namjoo rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

"Yes yes whatever just skip to the juicy parts will you." She said impatiently.

Ilhoon in his breath sharply and gave her a piercing look.

"Namjoo…"

"Ugh fine." Namjoo relented. "I swear on my collection of Minhyuk's fancams that I will not tell anyone except Chorong and Eunji unnie and Bomi unnie when she wakes up, and Sanghyuk and…"

She trailed off as Ilhoon glared at her again.

"Okay not Sanghyuk." She said.

Ilhoon gave Namjoo one last distrustful look and let out a heavy sigh .

"Jesus Christ I can't believe I'm even telling you this." He muttered.

 The light turned green and the car started moving again. 

"It's not like I wanted to be born into a gang..." Ilhoon said through gritted teeth as he rounded the corner.

"But I was." He continued bitterly. "So there you go. That's the tattoo. End of story."

"Woah…" Said Namjoo, looking completely fascinated. "So your dad's a gangster too? What does he do? Is he really high up?"

Ilhoon's face soured.

"For 's sake Namjoo why do you care? Yeah whatever my dad's the local gang boss okay? Happy now?" He spat back angrily.

The girls gasped and Ilhoon felt his ears turning red. He caught a glimpse of Naeun and Hayoung's shocked expressions in the backseat and suddenly felt a twinge of shame.

"Sorry." He muttered. "It's just that it's not something I'm proud of."

The car fell silent except for Bomi's snoring as Ilhoon took a moment to regain his composure.

He looked over at Namjoo who seemed to be itching to ask another question and sighed. Seriously did this girl have no sense of personal boundaries?

"Are you done yet?" He asked in a tired voice.

"Well…there was just one more thing I was wondering…" Namjoo said curiously. "How come Hyunsik oppa hasn't got one of those tattoos? He's your half brother isn't he?"

Ilhoon paused before answering.

"He didn't get that half."

"Ohh…" Namjoo's lips formed an almost perfect circle.

 Ilhoon looked away out the window.

"That lucky bastard." He said softly to himself.

Bomi suddenly snorted in her sleep.

"Mmm jjigae…where's the jjigae…" She murmured as her head lolled off of Hayoung's shoulder onto her lap.

"Oh please don't drool on my jeans…" Hayoung groaned.

She pulled Bomi back up into a sitting position.

"Unnie? Unnie wake up we're almost home." She said, patting Bomi's cheek.

Bomi blinked slowly.

"Aishhh…" She mumbled.

She squinted around the car looking disoriented.

Hayoung pursed her lips.

"What the hell did she even drink in there?" She asked, shaking her head.

"I…I don't know. I told her not to but she didn't listen…" Naeun replied in a small voice.

"Oh unnie…I'm sorry we shouldn't have left you alone with her." Hayoung said.

Naeun looked down at her lap and Ilhoon cleared his throat.

"We're here." He announced.

Ilhoon pulled into the school parking lot and turned off the car. He and Namjoo got out first and Namjoo quickly went to the back door to help Hayoung with Bomi.

"Are the unnies here yet?" Namjoo asked as she hoisted Bomi onto her back.

Hayoung checked her phone.

"They said they're like 10 minutes away." She replied.

"Okay." Namjoo said.

She turned to Ilhoon.

"Oppa thanks for the ride. I promise I won't tell anyone anything about your tattoo or your dad-"

Hayoung quickly shushed Namjoo and smiled apologetically at Ilhoon.

"Sorry oppa I'll make sure she keeps it quiet." She said hurriedly. "And thanks really…"

Ilhoon shoved his hands in his pockets.

"It's nothing." He said curtly.

"Thanks…" Hayoung repeated.

"Aish just go inside already it's cold." Ilhoon said with a slight hint of annoyance as he made a shooing motion with his hands.

Hayoung gave him a short bow then took Naeun's hand.

"Unnie let's go." She said, turning leave.

Naeun started to follow her but Ilhoon's voice suddenly came from behind them.

"Naeun wait I wanna talk."

She froze. A part of her wanted to refuse and keep walking but the other part was still clinging to the thread of temptation in her heart.

She glanced at Hayoung with a conflicted look.

"What should I do?"  She silently asked.

Hayoung gave her a small shrug.

"It's up to you." Her face said.

Naeun bit her lip then let go of Hayoung's hand.

"You go first I won't take long." She said.

Hayoung nodded.

"Text me if you need help." She whispered, then hurried after Namjoo and Bomi.

Naeun watched them for a short moment then turned around to face Ilhoon.

"What do you want?" She asked.

Ilhoon leaned against his car and kicked the asphalt casually.

"You should've told me you were gonna be at the club tonight." He said.

"It was a last minute thing…" Naeun mumbled.

"Yeah well a little heads up still would've been nice."

Naeun looked away from Ilhoon.

"Would you have acted differently if you knew I was watching?" She asked with a bitter note in her voice.

Ilhoon gave a small chuckle.

"Naeun…I'm a paid performer and those girls are paid dancers. We're just doing our job."

"You call that a job?" Naeun asked with a pained voice.

"As long as it pays the bills." Ilhoon said, shrugging. "But that's not the point Naeun. The point is you almost got hurt tonight and I could've stopped it sooner if I'd just known you were there."

He stepped a bit closer.

"Naeun I'm sorry I know I must look like a bad guy but I really do care about you." He said softly.

Naeun looked up, suddenly angry.

"Well if you really care so much then why do you act like such a playboy with your…your stupid half pictures a-and those godawful pick up lines you probably used on all those other s you know at the club-"

"Naeun I already said they're paid dancers. What else do you want me to tell you I-"

"I don't care if they're paid or not!" Naeun cried. "It's degrading to women and there's no way I can feel secure in a relationship with you when you've dropped out of college to make a living off of partying and probably using dirty money from your dad and…and…"

Naeun cast around for more arguments but her mind was so tangled up with mixed feelings she couldn't find the right words.

"Ugh you just frustrate me so much." She finished.

"But you like me."

"No! I don't."

"That's a lie and you know it." Ilhoon said calmly.

Naeun flushed and bit her lip in silence as Ilhoon leaned back against his car.

"Naeun I've never done anything bad I promise." He said in a cool but serious voice. "I work hard for my gig money and I don't ask for more than I need from my dad."

"But you don't have to take his money…you could quit the gang and get another part time job or…or something." Naeun protested.

Ilhoon sighed and folded his arms.

"It's not that simple okay. I'm not proud of my dad but he's still my family and money is the only kind of love he knows how to give so I'll take what I can get."

He looked suddenly sad and Naeun saw a brief flash of a young neglected child beneath his hardened face. For a second she almost wanted to pity him but she stopped herself. This was Jung Ilhoon. The boy who had become the constant source of her emotional stress with his never ending attempts to woo her.

"Well I'm sorry you grew up in that kind of environment Ilhoon-ah…but that's no excuse for you to be living like this." Naeun said.

Ilhoon chuckled at her scolding tone.

"Oh don't worry. I'm working towards better things. Believe me. Once I've built enough rep as a DJ I can start branching out and doing my own thing. Maybe I can even start my own record label or something and then I can live a clean life just making music with nobody else to answer to except myself." He said confidently.

"And I'm not saying you have to accept me right now." He continued. "But one day you'll see that I'm making the best of my life with what's been given to me and I will prove to you that I'm good enough. So in the meantime do me a favor and don't go getting yourself into any more danger."

"I don't need your concern." Naeun said in a small voice.

Ilhoon arched an eyebrow and gave a hollow laugh of disbelief.

"Really? After you almost got yourself taken away by some creeper at the bar?" He asked.

Naeun fidgeted, stalling for time as she tried to come up with a way to shut down Ilhoon's insufferable attitude.

"Why does he have to be such a handsome pain in the …"  She thought.

After opening and closing a few times she finally managed to form words

"Bomi unnie saved me not you." She muttered.

Ilhoon cracked a smile.

"Haha damn…I suppose I can't argue with that." He chuckled grudgingly.

He waited for Naeun to continue the conversation but when he realized she had nothing else to say he lowered his gaze.

 "Well since you don't seem to want my help I guess I'll get going." He said.

Naeun's mouth fell open slightly as Ilhoon turned around and started to get back into his car.

"Seriously?…After all that you're just gonna leave?" She asked incredulously.

Ilhoon paused halfway into the car and looked back.

"Yeah. I've said what I wanted to say and it's already late anyways."

"But..."

"But what? Don't you need to go to sleep? Or were you hoping for a goodnight kiss?" Ilhoon teased.

Naeun's face went scarlet.

"Excuse me??" She spluttered as Ilhoon smirked and closed the car door.

He rolled down the window and leaned out to blow her a kiss.

"Merry Christmas Naeun." He said, then drove off without even waiting for her response.

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A/N  Me halfway through writing this being like ummm when did this become an Ilhoon x Naeun fic?? Lmao I hate him make it stop jk Ilhoon is precious...sometimes.