“Ahhh, so tired,” Daphne sighed loudly, talking to herself, placing her head on her backpack as she laid lazily on the floor. “What did I get myself into? It’s only been the first practice!”

“Eh?” he said to himself curiously. “Who is still here at this time of the night?”

A figure was standing outside of the room, being completely still because of the sudden noise, which triggered his anxiety. He made his way to peer through the door’s window to catch a glimpse of the mysterious feminine voice that he heard, but he was soon interrupted.

“Yah, Yoseob!” his fellow group mate called him impatiently from the elevator, causing Yoseob to jump in fright. “Yah, what are you doing over there? Let’s go back to the dorms. I’m tired.”

“Go without me, Doojoon hyung!” he answered nonchalantly. His curiosity was too much to give up. Who was that person in the room? Has he seen her before? He swore he just saw the back up dancers leaving a while ago, so why was this mysterious person here?

“What are you talking about?” replied Doojoon, irritated. All he wanted to do was to go back to their dorm and sleep. He ruffled his dark brown hair, sending Yoseob a piercing glare. “We need to go! We’re waiting for you! How can you go without us?”

“I’ll take a taxi,” Yoseob suggested foolishly, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, but just let me stay here for a little, okay? Tell Manager Jiyong hyung that I’m practicing my vocals or something.”

“Aish...Yoseob...”

“Please, hyung? I really need to see something,” Yoseob pleaded, trying his best to sound as desperate as possible in order to evoke sympathy. “Don’t make me pull my aegyo out.”

“Okay, okay!” Doojoon gave in, shaking his head as he went into the elevator. Seeing Yoseob’s aegyo was the last thing Doojoon wanted to see before he went to sleep.

Yoseob didn’t know why his curiosity suddenly controlled him so much. All he knew was that he just had to know who this mystery girl was. His intuition was telling him that she was someone important.

He placed his face against the window once more, feeling a bit absurd but it was the only way to get a good glance of the room. Yoseob saw stacks of books and papers, but unfortunately, the girl was nowhere in sight, causing a scowl to appear on his face. Surely there was someone.

“What? I really thought I heard something...” he thought, perplexed.

Gripping her water bottle tightly, Daphne felt her heart beating violently. She was hiding against the wall that was on the same side as the door, trying to remain unseen.

“Who was that person?” Daphne questioned with fear. She was only minding her own business until she saw a figure outside. At first she dismissed it, thinking it was one of the janitors, but the person suddenly tried peering in the room, which gravely alarmed her. “What if it’s a criminal? Or an intruder? Omo, what did I get myself into...should’ve followed Ji Hee! Stupid, stupid me.”

Just as she was beginning to think that the intruder had gone, Daphne heard the doorknob turning, causing her to tense up once more.

“, I don’t have anything to protect myself with!” she cursed lowly to herself. “!”

Yoseob grasped the doorknob tightly, trying to be as quiet as possible. He came in only to be met with disappointment once more.

“What the hell,” he said to himself. “Someone was here, I swear!” Yoseob turned around, beginning to make his way toward the exit but he jumped in fright. “Yah! Where did you come from!?”

He noticed a quivering girl in the corner of the room looking quite disheveled. Her brown eyes were wide with fear, her black hair was tied in a ponytail but it looked like most of it had come undone, and she was wearing shorts and a tank top that suited her body well. It looked like she had just finished working out.

“Heh, she’s not that bad looking,” Yoseob thought, chuckling a bit. “Maybe if she didn’t look like she just ran five miles then--”

“Yah!” Daphne broke off Yoseob’s train of thought, angry that he was just staring at her, afraid that he was a . She threw her water bottle at him aggressively. “What are you doing here?!”

Yoseob immediately flinched and deflected the water bottle away. If he wasn’t at a complete loss of words, he would have said something about her violent tendencies. She didn’t recognize him? Surely she should if she was in this building, but he had never seen her before either.

“Yang Yoseob...?” he finally mustered up. He mentally slapped himself in the face by the sheer stupidity of his answer. Why was his answer a question?

“Yang...Yang Yoseob?” Daphne repeated, dumbfounded. Who the hell was that? Nonetheless, she was extremely elated that it seemed like he wasn’t trying to mug or her, which allowed her to loosen up. She observed him with scrutiny still. His black hair was swept messily to the side, barely touching his soft brown eyes. His button nose scrunched up slightly in response to her query, as if she had said something bothersome.

“Yes...” Yoseob muttered with the same tone of confusion as Daphne’s. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been here since dance practice,” Daphne answered slowly, unsure if he was trustworthy or not. “I’m doing homework now though.”

“Homework? Why?”

“Because...” she began, getting irritated at his interrogation, “I really need to get it started now. I don’t have time to go back to my apartment and do it.”

“That’s a bit silly, isn’t it?”

“Yah, why are you calling me silly?”

“Well, by the time you do finish your homework it’d be really late to walk back to your apartment! Why would you want to walk home so late?”

Daphne didn’t know how to retort. He had a very reasonable point. Why had she stayed? Her eagerness to finish homework seemed to overrule her common sense, she guessed.

“Yeah, well...” she hesitated, attempting to piece words together that made sense. “Good point. If you don’t mind now, I’m going to go home.” Daphne reached for her backpack only to be blocked by Yoseob.

“Hey, wait a minute!”  Yoseob stopped her, as he stood between Daphne and her backpack. “You didn’t even tell me your name!”

“Daphne Park. Park Daphne, whatever! Can I get my backpack now?”

“Daphne? What kind of name is Daphne?”

“It’s American, babo,” she replied, her voice filled with irritation.

“Yah! How old are you that you’re talking to me informally?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Oh...sorry, noona.”

Daphne rolled her eyes at his ridiculousness but tried her hardest not to giggle at the same time. Whoever he was, his foolish nature was definitely a charm. She looked at him and poked his chest. “Can I go now?”

“Do you really not know me?”

Daphne groaned, plopping herself on the floor out of frustration like a child whose mother wouldn't get him a brand new toy. “No, I don’t know you! Should I?”

“Don't you know about the group Beast?” Yoseob was so amazed that she really did not know who he was. He took a seat next to her, laughing at how frustrated he was making her.

“No! Are we done with questions? Let me get my backpack!” Daphne reached over for her backpack but Yoseob pushed it away, wagging his finger.

“No, I want all of my questions answered!”

Daphne huffed and slumped against the wall. “What?!”

“Are you a foreigner?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m a new back-up dancer.”

“Where are you from?”

“Isn’t it implied that since my name is American that I’m from America?!”

“Aish, so much attitude,” Yoseob chuckled to himself, satisfied that his inquiries were finally explained. “I’m from a boy group in Cube called Beast. That’s why I was so confused since I haven’t seen you before.”

“Ah...sorry,” Daphne immediately apologized after hearing that he was part of Cube. She should have known better but he gave her such a fright that her rationality was erased temporarily. “I’m not usually like this, you know. You just scared me.”

“It’s okay, noona!” Yoseob said with a smile, clapping his hands together, happy that he was going to make a new friend. “Hey, what are you studying?”


Daphne forced a smile, but she felt a part of herself die on the inside. Why did he have so many damn questions?! She inhaled deeply, preparing to be bombarded by an avalanche of questions. “Well...”

A/N: Keke, Yoseob finally arrives! I hope this interaction helped make up for the last two chapters. xD. Thanks to everyone subscribing, commenting, and reading! It makes me really happy. ^^.  You guys are so great!