The expressionless woman now wore a slight smirk, her arms folded, her expression smug as she sensed the recognition in the two hoobaes. 

Another older woman, her hair cut short, decked out in black leather, hurried to their side, giving Go Hyemi a slap on the arm. “Yah, why are you going around terrorising hoobaes? You’re terrible!” 

Hyemi looked bored. “Baekhee, if they can’t even stand this level of harshness then they don’t deserve to be in the industry.” She cast Rian and JB a cool look. “Isn’t that right?” 

Rian huffed, drawing herself up to her full height. “I’m more than capable of surviving in the industry, thank you very much!” She took a step forward, her gaze challenging as she stared right at Hyemi. 

“Oh really?” Hyemi’s face was still cold, but she took a step forward as well, her expression now condescending. “You sure don’t look it.” 

Before Rian could come up with a comeback, JB stepped awkwardly between the two of them, putting on a charming smile as he faced Hyemi. “Hyemi-sunbae, do you remember me?” 

There was a pause as Hyemi and Baekhee stared at JB. Then Hyemi responded with bluntly. “No. Who are you?”

JB blanched, his face turning red as Baekhee turned to smack Hyemi again. “He’s JB! He trained with us in America, remember? He and Jason were always having dance sessions!” 

Recognition sparked in Hyemi’s eyes, and for the first time her expression became friendlier. “Ah, JB! Now I remember - you had blonde hair back then, didn’t you?” 

JB gave a rueful smile as he ran a hand through his now short, brown hair. “Yeah. I dyed it for EXO’s comeback. Did you see our debut? What did you think of it?” 

Baekhee gave an encouraging smile and a pat on JB’s back. “I thought it was great! You, Kai and Lay were simply oozing with charisma and all of you sounded really good.” 

Hyemi just gave a shrug. “It was okay. I thought our debut was better, but you guys didn’t do too terribly either.” 

Baekhee slapped her forehead with her palm, but JB just laughed. “Coming from you, sunbae, that’s pretty high praise!” 

Rian was slowly being shoved off centre-stage; she watched, her face growing darker and darker as she watched JB joke around with his “friends from America”. At last, when she couldn’t stand it anymore, she grabbed JB by the arm. “Shouldn’t we go now?” 

All three shot her a look, and JB’s tone rang out, loud and still antagonistic. “I don’t think we’re close enough to be going around anywhere together.” 

Rian’s face flushed bright red. Slowly, she let go of his arm, letting her hand fall limply to her side. Baekhee nudged Hyemi, shooting her a subtle side-glance but Hyemi just shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. 

The tension amongst them was so thick you could slice a knife through it; Rian was staring, almost forlornly, at JB, while JB stubbornly averted his gaze. Baekhee shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting about. 

It was Hyemi who broke the silence first, with a glance at her watch and a nonchalant tone. “Well, I think we ought to go. We need to meet the President, Baekhee.” She was about to walk ahead when she paused, then turned back to the two hoobaes. “Dream High is holding our first comeback concert next Thursday. If you want to come-” She held out two tickets with a flourish. “Then make sure you come together. So I’ll remember who you are.” 

JB and Rian exchanged looks. With a huff, JB snatched his ticket from Hyemi’s hands, while Rian reacted more slowly, taking the ticket and studying it for a moment. 

Without a word of goodbye Hyemi spun around and strode into the distance. Baekhee paused beside Rian. “We’ve seen your practice videos. I think your group is pretty impressive, and I really can’t wait for your debut!” She gave both idols a kindly smile. “Keep up the good work!” Without waiting for a reply she hurried away, following after Hyemi. 

Rian stared after the two sunbaes. “Baekhee-sunbae is nice.” 

“They’re both nice.” JB replied off-handedly. “Hyemi-sunbae just doesn’t like to appear soft in front of others.” JB cast Rian a sidelong gaze. “Strangers, for example.” 

“There was a time we weren’t completely strangers, wasn’t there?” Rian’s voice was soft, her eyes gentle as she gazed at JB. 

JB’s eyes did not meet hers as he focused on placing the ticket into his wallet. “I wasn’t the one who changed that.” He paused, then looked up, his eyes betraying an emotion other than hatred for the first time in years. “You were the one going around flaunting your relationship with that- that . You ignored everything we shared and threw it all aside. I just- adapted.” 

“If I said that was all an act?” 

JB whipped around so fast Rian instinctively took a step back, his face a cruel sneer. “An act? Don’t give me that bull, Lee Ji-kyung. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me.” 

Rian’s expression turned indignant, almost upset. “Is love a shame?” 

“It wasn’t even love to begin with.” JB’s reply was brutally curt, his eyes daring Rian to disagree with him. 

Just at that moment, a familiar voice called out. “Yah, JB!” 

Both idols turned abruptly, only to see Lay and Yoojin standing behind them. Both stood a distance apart - Lay’s usually mild expression looked slightly annoyed, while Yoojin had his hands folded, his expression rebellious. 

JB’s brows drew together; in a flash, he was by Lay’s side, his voice a low murmur as they drew away from Yoojin. “Did something happen? You look upset.” 

Lay gave a subtle jerk of the head towards Yoojin. “Later.” He led JB away from the two Superdols. 

Yoojin strode over to Rian, his arms still folded and his face now impatient. “What the hell was taking you so long? Did you really have so much stuff to talk about with that jerk?”

Rian shot Yoojin a look. “JB isn’t a jerk. I...I wronged him first.” 

Yoojin’s face grew redder; his arm lashed out, grabbing Rian’s wrist roughly. “You wronged him? What kind of crap is that? Just because the two of you used to date means you’re not allowed to hang out with other guys? Rian, will you stop being such a goddamn idiot and look at other people for once, instead of just that selfish ?”

Rian’s expression twisted in pain, as she tried to pry her wrist out of Yoojin’s tight grasp. “Let go of me, you’re hurting me!” 

Yoojin ignored her protests as he grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her even more violently. “Will you listen to what I’m saying for god’s sake?!” 

“Get your hands off her right now.” 

Yoojin froze - this time, both idols recognised the voice of their sunbae immediately. Both spun around, staring at the tall, hunky figure of Hyun Shi Hyuk. 

Yoojin drew himself up to his full height - which was still a few centimetres shorter than the older idol. “I think you should mind your own-”

Shi Hyuk’s fist pinned him Yoojin to the wall. “What did you just say?” 

Yoojin struggled futilely, almost choking under the older idol’s iron grip. But Shi Hyuk just pressed forward harder. “What. Did. You. Say.”

Yoojin barely managed to shake his head; Shi Hyuk released him, and he fell to the ground in a heap, gasping for breath. Shi Hyuk looked down at him coldly. “Apologise to her.” 

Resentfully. Yoojin got to his feet, muttering a reluctant sorry. Shi Hyuk gave him one of the “patented-Shi-Hyuk-glares”, then turned to Rian, his expression becoming amiable. “I’m on my way to see the President, but I don’t quite remember where his office is. Would you show me the way?” 

Rian hesitated for a moment, shooting a brief glance at Yoojin, whose head was averted, his gaze staring balefully at the ground. Then she turned back to face her sunbae, dipping her head respectfully. “This way, sunbae.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lay folded his arms, his expression cold. “That hoobae is unbelievable.” 

JB’s brows rose. “Yoojin? What did he do now?” 

“As I was coming out of the toilet he banged into me and just strode past without an apology. And frankly, I don’t really care about what he does to me, but he snapped at Baekhyun as he and Nana were exchanging singing tips - he told Baekhyun that both he and Nana were better singers than Baekhyun was. The nerve of him! And as if that’s not enough - when I came out to look for you, he asked me where Rian-sshi was, and his tone was totally rude! He didn’t even bother to call me by name, and just demanded to know where she was - and when I said she went to look for you, he called you an ! That jerk...” The usually easy-going Lay was furious, his ears bright red as he ranted. 

“She came out to look for me?” JB latched on to only one part of that sentence. 

Lay glanced at his bandmate, and the look in his eyes changed abruptly, becoming slightly speculative. “That’s right. She didn’t say as much, but from the way she acted, I guessed she was worried about you and that girlfriend - if she really is your girlfriend.” 

JB gave a rueful smile. “I just can’t hide anything from you, can I?” 

Lay just smiled, punching him lightly in the shoulder. “That’s what friends are for, isn’t it? To read your mind.” 

And in the distance, Haesung leaned her head against the wall, closing her eyes. “Yes - that’s what friends are for. To read your mind.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rian led Shi Hyuk to the President’s office, stopping right in front of the door. “Right here, sunbae.” 

Shi Hyuk shot her a grateful smile. “Thanks. You’re - Rian, right? Lee Rian. I’ve seen your practice videos. It’s quite impressive.” 

Rian bowed, her face flushing slightly. “Thank you, sunbae.” 

“Are you coming to our showcase? Do you have tickets?” Shi Hyuk reached for his pocket as if to remove a ticket from it, and Rian hurriedly held out the one that Hyemi had given her. “Oh, yes. Hyemi-sunbae gave me one already.” 

Shi Hyuk glanced at the ticket in Rian’s hands, surprise showing clearly in his eyes. “Hyemi gave you one? That’s startling. She’s usually totally negligent of hoobaes. Either way, make sure you turn up, all right? And thanks again.” Shi Hyuk clapped Rian on the back, giving her a friendly smile, before turning to the President’s door and rapping sharply on it, turning on the knob to enter the office. 

Rian stood there for a moment, unmoving. Shi Hyuk’s friendly, open demeanor - it was exactly like JB’s, before... 

“JB...” Rian’s lips moved in a silent murmur as she gazed down at the ticket she held in her hand. Would he turn up with her? She didn’t think so. He would never be caught dead with her again, would he?

“Rian-sshi.” 

At the familiar voice, Rian whipped around, her eyes wide and wary. “Shin Haesung.” 

Haesung stood behind her, her face clearly tear-stained, her eyes still bright and watery. She sniffled, hard, her head lowered. 

Warily, Rian gazed at her long-time rival. “Are you all right, Haesung-sshi?” 

“He’s right. If you want to be someone’s friend you have to know what he’s thinking. And I know what he’s thinking, what he really wants.” Haesung took a deep breath, raising a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. 

“He? Who’s he?” Rian’s brows rose, but she knew who Haesung was talking about even before she answered. 

“JB.” 

Rian’s brows rose even further, her expression arranging into one of contempt. “Oh, and you just know him so well now, do you?” 

“Yes. And I know what he really wants.” Haesung was struggling to hold back the fresh wave of tears threatening to assault her. 

Rian folded her arms, scoffing. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?” 

“You.” 

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New update! Wow, it's been five months since I last updated...I'm sorry guys, but I was kinda busy with life ><

Anyway, I totally love the Dream High idols here! So far its only Hyemi, Baekhee and Shihyuk tho - who's your favourite out of the three so far? Not just the DH idols - Lay is pretty adorable here too; the whole EXO looks awesome in Wolf, don't you think?

And here's a reversal - will Haesung be the one to bring JB and Rian back together again? What do you all think?

And remember guys, comment and subscribe!