Bom widened the door entrance, allowing room for me to slip in. Uneasily, I shuffled in, with the men peering at me suspiciously. And then I saw the identity of the blondes. My eyes glazed over 6 boys, probably around my age, standing a bit awkwardly and glancing at anywhere but me. Their lean, fit bodies boasted all sorts of muscles everywhere (well, except for the tallest one who was surprisingly very frail compared to the others). Next, I examined their faces. Decent-looking, each would be easily distinguishable from each other if not for the blinding fringes they all shared. Although they all wore pretty stoic expressions, their eyes glittered with the same mischievous twinkle in them. One of them unexpectedly met my stare, his eyes piercing right through mine before he gave me a sudden wink and a crooked smirk. Taken aback, I glanced around uncomfortably, wondering how much longer this would take.

The silence was cut abruptly with the slam of the door. I jumped at the noise and whipped my head at Bom, who gave me a cheesy grin. “Sorry, got a bit excited,” she giggled. For what? She sauntered over by my side giddily and plastered on a huge smile. What the heck was going on? “Anyway, introduce yourself, girl,” she nudged me.

I gave her an obscure look before clearing my throat. “Er...hi. My name is Kim Kina.” I gave a small bow before continuing, “I’m working here for the summer as an intern, and I’m Bom’s assistant.”

“Ooh, pretty name for a pretty girl,” a squinty-eyed boy cooed as he stretched out an arm and my hair. I felt my face flush pink as Bom snickered quietly.

“Moon Jongup! Be respectful!” one of the men whose nametag read Mr. Shin smacked his arm down and hissed at him.

“What? That’s a compliment!” he whined back.

“Aish! See this kid? I always catch him touching other females like that in the hallways! I always warn him about harassing others like that, but he just claims it’s a friendly habit. That’s bullsh—“

“Alright, Mr. Shin, calm down. You won’t get your point across like that,” the other man patted him before turning to me. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Professor Yong, and I’m an engineer major working in Seoul National University,” he explained before raising one of his hands for me to shake. I grasped and shook it lightly before returning my hand back to its original position.

“Let me tell you about these kids here. These two,” he motioned towards the ones on the very left, including the one who winked at me. “Are Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan. They are college students in my class. And the rest of them are in Seoul High School, where Mr. Shin over here works. They are Jung Daehyun, Yoo Youngjae, Moon Jongup, and Choi Junhong.” The last one mumbled faintly, saying what sounded like “jello” or something.

“What’s with the hair?” Bom perked up curiously.

“It means they are acquainted with each other, explaining their similar vulgar behaviors! And it possibly shows that they’re a gang!” Mr. Shin accused.

“Oh, don’t go there sir,” Professor Yong butted in. “You’re going to confuse the little girl here. I’m going to share a bit of their behaviors more clearly and see what you think of them. After all, you must not have picked up too much listening from behind a door, am I right?” Blushing with guilt, I nodded cheekily in response. “Alright. So this one,” he pointed to Yongguk, “has a pretty bad reputation behind him, to say the least. Gossip is always floating around about how he slept with this person, slept with that person, and did all sorts of deeds. Of course, it was just talk and I thought it was nonsense, especially since he was well-behaved in class. But then I started noticing many of the female students looking weary and overhead them talking about this “Jepp Blackman” person that was extremely rough and rowdy with them every night. And then my assistant reported to me about an incident where she walked in the classroom and caught him and some woman doing something...nasty. And now I believe that it is the best if we try to solve this kind of behavior before he corrupts the whole campus.” He sighed as he finished.

A silence enveloped the room as I tried settling all the information I just heard in. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the flabbergasted Bom who looked as if she saw pigs flying.

“Disturbing, right?” Professor Yong commented. I didn’t respond. Yes, it was kind of disturbing, but more so as in WTF-is-this rather than ew-how-gross.

“Well, that’s not it. There are still 5 more to go,” the Professor continued. My mind was in a blur as the rest of the boys were described profusely. Himchan, the winking one, was a flirty heartbreaker that distracted all the students and even hit on the teachers. Although that didn’t seem much of a psychological problem, Himchan’s presence still made me feel uneasy as his eyes continuously roamed my body, his lips and making kissy-faces at me. And then Mr. Shin took over as he raved endlessly about Daehyun’s obsession with and instances where he was caught watching it in class. He also labeled him aggravating to work with due to his disrespectful behavior and stubbornness. Youngjae’s was the funniest. I had to vacuum my lips together to prevent myself from laughing as Mr. Shin yakked over how Youngjae was always reading chunky books about ual topics that were rather absurd, like how to please women faster for example and how doing it is so pleasurable. I mean, watching movies was one thing, but discovering the science and wonders behind it was on a totally different level. Youngjae will be an interesting kid to work with. Moving on to Jongup, the one who flattered me for my looks, he had this thing with skinship—and tons of it. Not only was he extremely touchy with his friends--girl OR boy—he would randomly extend his arms out and embrace strangers in public, usually creeping the devil out of them. And lastly was Zelo, just a kid who always had one of those Playboy magazines in hand and wasn’t afraid to show it off to the world. The problem? He just graduated middle school.

“And that,” Mr. Shin huffed after finishing his rambling of the boys, “is what you’re going to have to deal with this summer, Ms. Park.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I would be a good candidate for these situations,” Bom replied calmly as she shook her head. “I mean, I am such a noona to them. I’m not sure if they would want to listen to me. But,” she cast me a smug look. “I think I know who will do better.”

“M-me?!” I choked as I felt the air knock out of me.

“Her?” The men pointed to me, shocked as well.

“Yes, her. Kina. Not only is she around all their ages, she’s quite the charmer as well. I’m positive she can pull this off well, knowing the boys would listen to someone like her,” Bom proudly explained before facing me again. Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror across the room, my face was sickly pale and I looked as if I were ready to pass out any moment. Bom took note as she sighed, “Excuse us” to the men before whipping the door open, dragging me out of the room, and whammed it shut. “Kina—“

“WHY?! BOM! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!” I hissed through gritted teeth as I balled my fists. “Do you think I want to waste my time with those...those little dou—“

“Shh, shh,” she hushed as she put a finger to my lips. “Let me explain.”

“You better do it well, because I’m not happy with where this is going,” I snarled, folding my arms across my chest and shooting her a nasty glare.

Bom sighed distressingly before beginning. “Kina, I know this situation is really out of the normal. It’s odd, and I don’t know why they’re here because it’s just kids being kids, right? But we can’t turn down a patient like that. Dr. Lee is close with those two men. And Professor Yong was my college teacher-“

“You’re not an engineer,” I cut in.

“Geez woman, let me explain,” she silenced me. “He was my professor while I was studying engineering. But I never enjoyed it, and he noticed. So he helped me switch out of my class easily and into psychology, where he thought I would do well, and he was right. I owe it to him that I’m here doing what I’m doing, and I guess this is a way to do so. I mean, now that I think about it, he’s a pretty easygoing person. Something as little as teenage boys wouldn’t aggravate him to where he was back there. I guess the problem is bigger than it seems, eh?”

“But why me?” I groaned once more. “If you can’t handle them, what makes you think I can?”

“Because,” Bom gave me a knowing smile. “You can.”

“Eh?”

“You heard me. You can. I know you’re a toughie, Kina. You’re strong-willed and not easy to move around. I know it’s been only a few hours since we met but I’m sure everyone sees it. And you’ve got some attitude too. Guys like that,” she winked, causing me to gag. “Hey, easy there girl. You’ll do great. These boys are probably not as bad as the junk Mr. Shin deems them as. And you’ll have lots of fun too.”

“Fun? Heh. I don’t consider outrageous hormones fun,” I rolled my eyes.

“We’ll see later. So please, Kina? For me? For my job? For your summer? And for your love life?” she winked.

“Still not convinced yet. You can blame the last one,” I shook my head.

“Hmph! Well, how about this? I can ask Dr. Lee to give you a scholarship to Seoul National University for completing such a tenuous task like this,” Bom threw out her last option. My jaw dropped. A scholarship? To a college like that? My parents were a bit tight with money, especially after sending Kibum there. Plus, how good would this look on my resume? “Hmm, tempting, right?”

“But...two of those blonde guys go there,” I murmured.

“And four of them go to your school!”

“Oh yeah...”

“And so what? If you do your job well, they won’t be a problem anymore! You’ll have senior connections too, baby! Doesn’t that sound good?” she lured.

“You’re evil,” I narrowed my eyes at her, and she put her hands up innocently. “But...fine.”

“Aww yeah! Kina, you’re the best!” Bom smothered me with an immense hug.

“Sure,” I mused halfheartedly. What have I gotten myself into?

“And now I get to blow my whole summer trying to de-ert 6 mind-corrupted boys!” I grunted into the phone before punching my poor pillow once more and kicking the footboard of my bed repetitively. Key forgot to pick me up after work, adding on to the strain I already got from my one heck of a first day. Safe and sound in the comfort of my room, for the past 15 minutes I spilled everything about my new “job” to my friends over the line. “What am I gonna do?! WHAT?!”

“Hey, hey, chill out dude,” Minji replied.

“Yeah! I mean, 6 guys? Call yourself lucky, girl!” Soojung whistled.

“Soojung, not helping!” Sohyun shushed her. “Anyway, if you’re really uncomfortable with doing this, why didn’t you say so before you agreed to it?”

“Because Bom wanted me to. It’s her former professor that’s asking this from her and she can’t let him down,” I sighed. “But still! This is just so weird! Why do I have to be assigned to them?”

“Do your parents even know?” Soojung asked.

“No.”

“What about Kibum?”

“Definitely not.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell them? They’re your family! They have to know about this!” Sohyun fussed.

“Shh, you guys are so loud. I’m trying to watch Fashion King over here,” Jinri suddenly whined.

“Wow. Way to help,” Minji muttered sarcastically.

“Sorry. Aish, why is Kwon Yuri so hot—“

“Whatever. Anyway, continue Kina.”

“Well, I just don’t need them knowing the high likelihood of gang I’m going to have to encounter over at my internship. That’s awkward, you know?”

“AWKWARD?!” A high-pitched screech from behind caused my head to jerk up. “THAT’S ALL YOU CAN SAY?!”

“YAH! That’s it! I’m hanging up on you!” Jinri hissed before the line went dead.

“AND GANG ?! GANG ! MISSY YOU ARE IN TROOOOUBLE!” The voice hollered again.

“Well, sounds like Kibum knows now!” Soojung cackled into the phone. “Good luck, Kina.” And her phone went blank.

“Y-yah! You did not just hang up on me too, Jung Sooj—“

“Later, gator,” Minji followed suit.

“What?! AISH! Sohyun, please...”

“Like I said, you ought to tell him too. Talk to you later. Bye!” And just like that, my last thread of support was snapped.

“Kim Kina, get over here,” my brother growled. Still grumbling, I rolled over and onto the floor before picking myself up and dragging my legs ever so slowly over to the door where Kibum was. I sighed before looking up and facing the daggers he was sending through his glare.

“H-hi,” I muttered meekly.

“Explain.” His eyes never left mine. As I retold my unfortunate story once more to him, including the description of my new patients, his eyebrows continued to furrow downwards and his forehead became wrinkly with creases. Immediately after I was done, he shut his eyes and howled, “YAHHHHHHH!” at the ground. My eyes snapped shut and hands flew to my ears, attempting to shut off his glass-shattering scream. When he finished, he grabbed my wrists, pulled them down to chest-level, and tightened his grip around them.

“Ow!” I shrieked.

“You are not spending your summer with those hooligans, do you hear me?!” he seethed.

“But I need to! I have to put something on my resume for the colleges to see!” I argued while stomping my foot.

“You could do other things! Like, work with patients with normal problems?”

“That’s not an option for me, now, is it?”

“Well then, the only option I’m allowing you to take is NONE! You’re not doing this!” He snapped.

“And why not? They’re just boys. I have you in my family! Doesn’t that qualify me as good enough?” I retorted.

“Oh please, I’m a much more mature man than the ones you will ever meet,” he flattered himself. I grimaced. As I tried racking my brain for another solution, he sighed, “I’m going to call your boss for you right now if you don’t.” He strode into my room and swiftly grabbed my phone from my bed. As he unlocked my phone, the wallpaper of my friends and I flashed onto the screen. In that picture, Sohyun and I were trying to be pretty there, Minji and Soojung were making silly faces and Jinri was using her killer aegyo. And that’s when an idea popped into my head.

“Kibummie-oppa,” I piped up, raising the pitch of my voice up at least an octave. Taken aback, he glanced up at me slowly. I put on Jinri-style puppy dog eyes and pushed my bottom lip up into a tiny pout. “Why won’t you let me do the internship? Is it because you’re sad that I’m a big girl now?” The cuteness I frantically tried to ooze out was making my insides churn.

“Uh...” he gave me a queer look.

“Or do you think boys are too scary for me? Oppa, I’m not afraid of them! They won’t do anything funny to me because I’m so cute, right?” I poked my cheeks, blinked my eyes, and stuck my pout out even more.

“Kina...” he sighed.

“Or maybe...maybe you just don’t care about me?!” I gasped with despair in my tone (even though I am pretty desperate right now). “Oppa! I’m your baby sister! You’re supposed to take care of me!”

“Kim Kina, that is not aegyo. Aegyo is a cute charm. What you’re doing is acting stupid,” Kibum rolled his eyes. I fought to keep my face straight as I dug deeper into my mind for more ideas. What else could I do?

“Er...well, you forgot to pick me up today!” I blurted, crossing my fingers behind my back.

“Yeah, sorry. I was out with Jinwoon and Hoya,” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Hoya. His name sent shivers down my spine and triggered a small smile to my face. He was one of Kibum’s close friends and fellow classmate, but he was no ordinary student (at least to me). With a handsome face, built body, and dance skills that would give even Taeyang a run for his money, he was an it boy. The one that had no competition when it came to his strengths. The one that stole all the hearts of the women on campus. The one you’d admire from afar and dream that someday, somehow he’d be yours...

I must have drifted too far into my thoughts as Kibum shook me. “Kina. Kina. Earth to Kim Kina. You’re drooling.”

I snapped back into my senses as I flushed red and hastily wiped my face, only to find it was dry. “Liar,” I sneered.

“Psh, but now I know my little Kiki has a crush on somebody!” he squealed. “How cute!”

“What? No! He’s just...I was just...I was thinking about...”

“But please, you two would make a terrible couple! I mean, look at him! And then look at you! I mean, you’re beautiful and all especially because you’re related to me. But heh! You’re just not his type, you know?” My brother’s taunts were seemingly endless but my mind was beginning to zone out.

GAH! What else was there to do? This was getting nowhere, and I was running out of excuses. Not to mention him pestering me wasn’t making anything better. How do I bring the pity out of Kibum?!

Pity. Pity. Pity. As a futile last attempt, I sniffled loudly. “Oppa...”

“Aw, what now? Want me to call him and tell him to make you feel better?” he teased.

“S-stop,” I stammered, trying to make my eyes water. Dead puppies! Soojung moving back to America! Minji getting arrested! Sohyun getting ! Jinri ditching me! Hoya getting a girlfriend other than me! ME NOT GETTING THE INTERNSHIP! I recited all the tragedies through my mind and used all my might to squeeze some tears out of my eyes. My effort was successful as a tear finally burst out of my left eye, followed quickly by trails of salty water escaping from my tear ducts. Slowly, I croaked, “Oppa, it’s not funny.”

“Uh...” Kibum’s gleaming face slowly began to pale. “Are you o-okay?”

Just for dramatic effect, I didn’t respond as I lowered my gaze to the ground, allowing gravity to pull the tears further down on my face. Come on! I don’t like looking this pitiful, you dimwit!

“OH MY GOODNESS. I made you cry. I MADE YOU CRY! PLEASE DON’T CRY, HONEY! I WON’T TELL HOYA ANYTHING! AND I’LL LET YOU GO TO YOUR INTERNSHIP! JUST...JUST STOP CRYING ALREADY!” Finally, all his frustration zapped away and was replaced with motherliness as Kibum embraced me and rubbed my back soothingly, apologizing profusely and cursing himself for being so careless.

If I had to go through all that just for an internship, it better be worth it.

❖ ❖ ❖

A/N:

What an awkward chapter to write...*facepalm*

So I guess I don't even have to fangirl about BAP's comeback here...all I can say is that this is what happened to me:

I rest my case. Hi Kibum oppa.