There was a sharp rap on the door, and the T-ara members all jumped, startled. They glanced warily at each other. It wasn’t often that someone came knocking on their door, and they had all learnt to be cautious. After a moment, Jiyeon called out, “Who’s there?”

A familiar, albeit mildly irritated voice replied, “Me, obviously. Who else would it be? Don’t you remember that we’re supposed to do our music project today?”

Jiyeon’s body relaxed. Hyomin glanced at her, “Is that the classmate you were talking about?”

Jiyeon nodded. She moved to open the door, and was immediately startled. She had never seen JB in casual dress before, only in school uniform, and she had to admit that he looked good. With a loose pair of jeans and a t-shirt that fit snugly on him, accentuating his lean and muscular body, JB looked really hot.

Swallowing her surprise, she stepped to one side to let JB enter, “Come on in.”

JB removed his shoes and entered the house. He seemed surprised to see Jiyeon’s five ‘sisters’, but he just bowed deeply. Eunjung gave him a friendly smile, standing up to welcome him, “You must be the classmate that Jiyeon told us about. Nice to meet you. I’m Eunjung, and this is Hyomin, Soyeon, Boram and Qri.” She pointed at each ‘sister’ as she said their names, introducing them to JB.

Qri shifted over to where Hyomin and Soyeon were sitting in what she thought was an inconspicuous manner, and nudged them, whispering, “He’s a pretty cute guy, isn’t he? I’m jealous of our Jiyeonnie! There was never such a hot guy in my class!”

Both Hyomin and Soyeon rolled their eyes at Qri’s words, but if JB heard her, he gave no indication of it. He held his hand out to Eunjung, “It’s nice to meet you too. My name’s Im Jae Bum, you all can call me JB. I’m Jiyeon-sshi’s new classmate.”

Instantly, the five girls tensed, looking at JB in a new light. Eunjung regained her composure first, holding out her hand and forcing a smile, “Well, you guys can work in the basement, then. We have a recording studio there, so it should be easier for the two of you to work there.”

JB nodded, “Thanks.” He glanced at Jiyeon, “Well, are we going?”

Jiyeon jerked her head towards the door leading to the basement, “Come on, then.”

The other girls waited till the duo were in the basement before they began to talk. Qri whispered, “Did he say he was a new classmate? The one that Jiyeon told us about? Does that mean he’s Creed?”

Hyomin glanced at the basement, her eyes narrowed, “He could very well be. Maybe we should take this chance and just eliminate him already.”

Boram’s tone was incredulous as she answered, “Don’t be ridiculous! He could very well just be a normal transfer student. Are you going to kill him then?”

There was a pause. Boram continued, “There’s really nothing we can do except to watch closely. If he does turn out to be a Warrior, then we’ll definitely kill him. Until then, we do nothing.

One by one, the other girls nodded in agreement, convinced by her words.

Meanwhile, in the basement, JB and Jiyeon were busy discussing their music project.JB was just doodling on a piece of paper, while Jiyeon was trying to get him to focus. After a few moments, Jiyeon snapped, “Will you pay attention for god’s sake, so that we can just hurry up and finish this project?”

There was a moment of silence. Then JB looked up, and his eyes met hers, “Why do you dislike me so much?”

Jiyeon blinked, “What?”

“Other than that first time where you spoke to me, you’ve been really nasty to me. Am I just so disgusting and annoying to you?” JB’s voice was soft, his eyes piercing as he looked at Jiyeon.

Jiyeon’s jaw tightened, “I don’t dislike you.” But JB just raised an eye, “Then?”

“I just want to finish off the project faster, all right? It’s nothing personal.” Jiyeon responded as she turned away, unable to meet his gaze.

JB’s lips tightened, but he didn’t say anything else. Ripping up the paper that he had been doodling on, he straightened up, saying in a dispassionate tone, “Do you have any music background?”

Jiyeon was glad to move to a more comfortable topic as she answered, “I’ve composed songs before. I just don’t know how to handle the lyrics.”

JB smiled, “That’s all right. I occasionally write, and lyrics are one of my fortes. Just compose the song, and I’ll have the lyrics to them. The problem is…what’s our song going to be about? Is it going to be a happy song, or a sad song, or one with fighting spirit, or what?”

Jiyeon bit her lip. After a moment, she said, “There’s a tune that’s been going around my head for quite a while, what do you think of it?” Slowly, she began to press the keys on the piano, playing out a beautiful, melancholy tune.

JB tilted his head back, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the enchanting melody.

As Jiyeon played the last few notes of the song, JB began to clap, “You’re good. I think the melody’s really nice.”

Jiyeon couldn’t stop a shy smile from spreading across her face. After a few moments, a look of inspiration suddenly flashed across JB’s face. He jerked upright, uncapping his pen and scribbling quickly onto a new piece of paper. Jiyeon looked curiously over his shoulder and asked, “Are those the lyrics?”

JB held a hand up, indicating for her to be quiet for a moment. About fifteen minutes later, he finally straightened up, showing her the paper, “The first two verses. What do you think?”

Jiyeon took the paper and began to read the lyrics under her breath. As she reached the end, she looked rather impressed, “You’re not too bad yourself. But this song is about…lost love?”

“Not really. It’s more like about two people who are in love, yet are unable to be with each other because of various reasons, and so they’re like, asking each other if they’ll still be able to remember and love each other in their next lives.” JB answered. He took the paper from Jiyeon, biting his pen as he contemplated the lyrics.

“And…this is a duet?” Jiyeon asked. JB nodded silently. Jiyeon frowned, and she questioned, “You do realize that we have to perform this song in front of our class? And, if our teacher chooses it for the showcase, we’re going to have to perform it in front of the whole school.”

“So?” JB replied nonchalantly, “What’s wrong with that?”

“Everyone’s going to think that we’re dating or something.” Jiyeon answered, rolling her eyes, “And I do not want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

JB looked impatient as he tossed Jiyeon a look, “Kid, this is just a song. It doesn’t mean anything, anyway.”

Jiyeon bit her lip, “I still think it’s weird.” But JB just turned his back on her, telling her, “Well, get over it. Now let’s focus on the song. You probably need to make the melody a little more complex, cos it sounds kind of simple right now…”

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

Nearly five hours later, they were finally done. JB threw his pen down, stretching, “Finally!”

Jiyeon leaned back in her chair, studying the score and the lyrics, “I think it’s going to be really good. You want to practice now?”

JB rolled his eyes, “Kid, we’ve been here for five hours. My brother’s coming to fetch me already. Even if I wanted to stay, I couldn’t. We can just practice in the school music rooms, anyway.”

Jiyeon blinked, “You get your little brother to fetch you? Are you, like, a baby or something?”

“My other brother. I have more than one brother, you know.” JB answered, rolling his eyes again.

“You have another brother? Really?” Jiyeon sounded surprised. Just then, the bell rang. JB’s head whipped around, “That’s probably him.” He got up, picking up his pen and stuffing it into his pocket. He glanced at the score and the lyrics, “Can you photocopy that and give me a copy, so I can memorise and practice the lyrics at home?”

Jiyeon shrugged, “Sure, I’ll pass it to you tomorrow at school.” The duo made their way up from the basement. JB’s older brother was waiting upstairs with Hyomin and Soyeon, sitting on the sofa and looking extremely awkward. He was really tall, with unusually big ears, short, cropped up black hair and dark blue eyes. He looked nothing like JB, but Jiyeon wasn’t really surprised, since JR didn’t look like JB either.

JB’s brother rose as he saw JB and Jiyeon. He clapped JB on the back, “You done?” JB just nodded silently. His brother smiled at the girls, “Thanks a lot for having this kid over at your house.”

Just then, Eunjung emerged from her room, asking, “Is JB-sshi going already?” She jerked to a halt, startled, when she saw JB’s brother. She pointed at him, “You…you’re that guy I knocked into that time.”

The guy looked just as surprised, “Oh, you’re that girl…!” He smiled, lifting his hand to wave, “Hi! I didn’t expect to meet you again.”

“You two know each other?” JB asked curiously. His brother nodded, “Yeah. She knocked me onto my a few days back. Heh.” He grinned, “It’s nice to meet you, anyway. I’m Taecyeon.” He held his hand out, and Eunjung took it, “I’m Eunjung, it’s nice to meet you too.”

There was a pause as the two stared at each other. A moment later, JB cleared his throat, “I think we need to go. Dad’s probably waiting for us.”

Taecyeon nodded, letting go of Eunjung’s hand as he looked slightly embarrassed, “Come on, then.” He smiled at the girls, and Eunjung in particular, “See you next time!” And then the duo were gone, closing the door behind them.

Hyomin and Soyeon looked at Jiyeon at once, “It was him, wasn’t it. That new classmate. Is he Creed?”

Jiyeon bit her lip, “I don’t know. He…I don’t know. He doesn’t seem to be a Warrior…but he wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave clues everywhere if he was, right?” She glanced them.

Hyomin hesitated. Then she ordered, “Just keep an eye on him, just to be safe. And Eunjung,” she turned to the vice-leader of the team, “that guy…you do realize he could be Creed too?”

Eunjung blinked, “What?”

“He could be Creed. If JB is, then Taecyeon could very well be. So you can’t get too close to him, you hear me? Just…if you can, keep an eye on him as well, and make sure he’s not a Warrior.”

Eunjung looked a little reluctant, but she still nodded, agreeing.

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

JB pushed his seat back, closing his eyes as he leaned back. With his eyes still closed, he asked Taecyeon, “What do you think?”

Taecyeon’s voice was unnaturally serious as he replied, “I can’t tell. But the best wouldn’t leave, like, obvious clues, would they?”

JB’s eyes opened, his storm-gray eyes frightening in their intensity, “There are six of them. Sisters, apparently, but they don’t look like it. They could easily be T-ara.”

“Do you think they know about us, then?” Taecyeon asked worriedly, glancing over at the younger man.

“Maybe. I think they suspect me. Their reaction when I introduced myself was…suspicious. And I said you’re my brother, so you could be under suspicion as well. We really have to be more careful than ever.”

Taecyeon nodded. Even though JB was the vice-leader while he was the leader, but JB was still more experienced than him. JB was more experienced than everyone, and he was only pulled back because of his youthful age. Even so, everyone trusted JB to make the right decisions. After a moment, he swallowed back a sigh. He hadn’t expected that girl, Eunjung, to be a possible member of T-ara. And he really hoped that she wasn’t.

Because if she was…then he would have to eliminate her. 

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Next chapter up! So, the Warriors, or at least JB and Taec suspect the girls of being T-ara as well! Hmm...who'll let slip first? Read on to find out! XD. And the song that JB and Jiyeon wrote and composed together will be revealed either in the next chapter, or the one after that, so please anticipate it! JJ couple forever XD

I'm moving a little slowly at this point, but it'll speed up soon as the plot unfolds, so please wait for it. Are there any other problems with my story? If there are, please point them out! And remember, comment and subscribe!