The phone vibrated against Jiyeon’s leg; she picked it up, eyeing the caller ID curiously. “Yah, it’s your maknae.”

JB, who was leaning against Jiyeon’s legs, reached for the phone and flipped it open. “Hello? Jr? Where are you, why aren’t you home yet?”

“Haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?” There was a long pause as Jr hesitated; in the background, JB could hear a vaguely familiar female voice speaking. Curiously, he inquired. “Are you with someone right now?”

“Is Jiyeon-noona there?” Jr changed the subject abruptly. JB tossed Jiyeon a puzzled glance, which she returned in kind, as she mouthed. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, she is. Why, do you want to speak to her?” JB shook his head at Jiyeon.

“No. Actually...could we, like, talk privately for a moment?” Jr sounded so stiff, so awkward compared to his usual carefree self, that JB was honestly startled. “Sure, I guess...” He lifted the phone from his ear and whispered to Jiyeon. “Give me a moment.” He slid off the bed and made his way out to the living room.

Just at that moment, Jiyeon’s phone rang; as she picked up, a familiar voice spoke. “Jiyeon-sshi? Are you there?”

“Jinwoon-sshi?” Jiyeon was surprised - she hardly ever talked to Jinwoon, let alone receive calls from him, so why would he be calling now?

“I just...I...uh...I wanted to congratulate you. On your relationship with JB. I heard about it from...from the others.” Jinwoon’s voice was strained; Jiyeon had a feeling that “congratulations” weren’t the only thing Jinwoon wanted to send their way, but she forced a smile. “Thank you, Jinwoon-sshi.”

“And...I was just wondering...” His voice trailed off hesitantly.

“Yes?” Jiyeon prompted.

“Well, seeing as you’re now dating JB I thought I ought to warn you first...” Jinwoon stopped again. Jiyeon was starting to get impatient. “Warn me about what, Jinwoon-sshi?”

“You know about JB’s sister? After School’s Nana?”

How would he know about that? Jiyeon wondered, a sudden uneasily feeling creeping across her spine. Then she remembered that they were both close to KARA’s Nicole - perhaps Nicole had accidentally let slip something to Jinwoon. “What about her?”

“I just...uh...Like, I’ve heard things. About JB’s family. Not-so-good things. And I think you ought to ask Nana about it. Just to clear things up.” Jinwoon finished in a rush.

Jiyeon’s voice was suddenly sharp, “What are you telling me, Jinwoon-sshi? That I might break up with JB because of his family? What’s your point?”

“Nothing. I just think...well, it’s better if you get the full set of facts from Nana herself. Even better, ask JB. Just ask.” With that, he hung up.

Jiyeon stared down at the phone; a feeling of intense dislike and anger suddenly rose like a wave in her: How is any of this any of his business, anyway? He should just let us alone!

But the feeling of uneasiness did not go away - what did Jinwoon mean, about JB’s family? Was there some secret there? She thought about how JB almost never talked about his family or his past, and-

The door slammed open; JB’s face was drawn, the previous chipper energy diminished. His hands clenched over his phone tightly. Slowly, he got onto the bed and sat facing Jiyeon. “Jiyeon...you won’t lie to me, will you?”

Jiyeon smiled. “Of course not.” She reached out to touch his face, but he pulled back. “You swear?”

Jiyeon nodded, the smile fading.

“Is there anything you know that you’re not telling me about? Anything about my family?”

Another uneasy silence. Then Nana’s words, reverberating in Jiyeon’s head: “Trust me, it won’t do you any favours to mention that you’ve met with me.” And then she replied, “No. You won’t even talk about it, so how could I possibly know anything?”

JB’s body relaxed. “Okay then.” His fingers flew over the buttons of his phone; Jiyeon tilted his head. “Who are you texting?”

“It’s nothing.” JB tossed the phone to the side. “Anyway, what were we talking about again?”

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

Jr looked down at the text message, then back at Suzy. “You’re bullting. Jiyeon-noona says she doesn’t know anything about Nana or JB’s mother.”

A smug expression crossed Suzy’s face, one that Jr was tempted to smack right off. “How would you know if she’s telling the truth or not?”

“Why would she lie?” Jr countered.

“Oh, you know why.” Suzy waved a hand airily. “If she knows about Nana, then she must know something about the tension between-”

“Don’t.” Jr warned, “Just don’t.”

Suzy’s expression turned wounded. “Look, Jr, you don’t have to treat me with such animosity. I’m not that mean anymore, I’m genuinely concerned for JB’s welfare. Jiyeon...she’s not the angel she appears to be. And-”

“Save it.” Jr snapped. He got to his feet. “I don’t even know why I waste time with you here.”

“Are you leaving?” Suzy’s voice was soft, hurt. “Please don’t, you’re the only one besides Jia and Fei who’d even... I just...”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been such a mean and antagonised everyone last time, then. You’re lucky Jia-noona and Fei-noona are kind enough to come and see you.” Jr’s words were harsh, but he sat down on the chair again.

Suzy leaned her head back. “JYP’s going to murder me when I get out. We’re supposed to be preparing for our comeback in a month.”

Jr fought the urge to roll his eyes, but before he could say anything, Suzy’s eyes widened as she stared at something behind him.

He turned around, then stopped abruptly, startled to see the handsome, awkward face of Kim Myungsoo. Jr practically leapt out of his seat, moving out of the way; behind Myungsoo stood his manager, who was looking at something over his shoulder.

Suzy’s eyes were suddenly bright. “Myungsoo...you came to see me?”

There was an awkward silence as Myungsoo looked down at the bouquet of flowers in his hands. Then he cast a resentful glance at his manager.

He’d been forced by his manager. As Jr glanced at Suzy’s face, he saw the same realization registering in her; the tears threatened to spill over and she looked away. “Get out. I don’t want to see you. Any of you!” Before any of them could say a word, she hurled the pillow at them.

Myungsoo and his manager dived out of the room; Jr held up his hands. “Woah - hold up.”

Suzy held another pillow up, her face streaked with tears, her eyes filled with angry hate. “Out.”

Jr hesitated. Then he turned and left.

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

Jung-ah ran a hand through her long hair, messy and wild in the morning. She grumbled. “Who the hell would come knocking at six in the morning?” She pulled the door open, then froze, her eyes darting back and forth, her hand frozen in place over as she covered a yawn.

Jiyeon stood outside the door, her hands folded, her expression sheepish. “Um...this is a bit early...”

“Who is it?” Kahi’s tired voice called. Jiyeon seemed to brighten a little. “Is that Kahi-unnie?”

“Come on in, I guess.” Jung-ah pulled the door open to let Jiyeon in, before locking it behind her.

“The house is a bit messy.” Jung-ah told Jiyeon; but even she knew that was an understatement. Clothes were thrown all over the sofas, mostly belonging to Kahi, Lizzy and herself. There was a half-eaten bag of chips on the table - Jung-ah supposed it was Jooyeon’s, since Jooyeon had been sitting there using the computer yesterday.

Jiyeon bit back a smile. “It looks like T-ara’s dorm.”

Jung-ah smiled at the younger girl. “I suppose you’re here to see Kahi?”

There was a short pause, then Jiyeon corrected her. “Actually, I’m here to see Nana-sshi.”

There was a pause. Jung-ah seemed to be remembering the awkward meeting they’d had in T-ara’s dorm the previous time. Then she nodded. “Why don’t you take a seat first? I’ll go and see if Nana’s awake.”

As Jung-ah opened the door to Lizzy and Nana’s room, she wasn’t surprised to see the two girls wrapped together, looking either as if they were trying to kill each other, or using each other as pillows. She rapped the door. “Nana! There’s someone here to see you!”

Nana blinked sleepily, murmured something, then dove back into sleep, wrapping her arms around Lizzy even more tightly.

Jung-ah rolled her eyes. She strode over to the two younger girls and rapped Nana’s head sharply this time. “C’mon, let’s not keep your brother’s girlfriend waiting.”

At the mention of her brother, Nana shot up. “Wait, who’s here?”

Jung-ah couldn’t help but marvel how Nana could look impeccably perfect even at six in the morning when she just woke up. But she shoved the thought out of her mind, focusing on the important part. “Jiyeon. She wants to see you.”

Nana blinked twice, then cast a glance at the clock. “At six in the morning?”

Jung-ah snorted. “Yeah, that’s what I asked too.”

“Well let me get changed first, I’m not going out in my pajamas.” Nana pushed at the older woman. Jung-ah flung her hands out, indicating herself. “What’s wrong with pajamas.”

Nana eyed Jung-ah’s Powerpuff Girls pajamas critically. “I think you just ruined After School’s image in Jiyeon’s heart.”

Jiyeon looked down at her hands, her well-manicured nails. She bit back a sigh - what had she expected to accomplish by coming here? What was she even going to ask? What did she even know? This was a fool’s errand, and if JB found out, it was only going to anger him-

The train of her thoughts was interrupted by a quiet cough. Jiyeon turned, only to see a familiar blonde-haired girl. Nana smiled at her, and Jiyeon was struck by the similarity to JB, the way their eyes crinkled together at the side, the brightness and animation in their faces - how could anyone not realise that they were siblings?

“Why don’t I get you a cup of coffee? There’s a shop downstairs that has awfully good coffee.” Nana told her, reaching for her wallet. Jiyeon rose to follow Nana. As they reached the door, Nana stopped suddenly. “Just to clarify - this is about JB, isn’t it?”

“I just have...well, a few questions.”

There was a pause as Nana stared at Jiyeon. Quietly, she spoke. “Are you sure about this? If JB knows-”

“I know what I’m doing, Nana-sshi.” Jiyeon replied, forcing her lips to smile, not realising that her strained voice belied her words.

“Okay then. If you’re sure.” Nana shrugged. She pulled the door open, and they walked out together into the growing dawn. 

---------------------------------------------------------

And I'm back! Holy crap it's been nearly four months since I last updated...I'm so sorry guys! I've honestly had very little time to write, what with my End-of-years and Block tests, but all my exams are finally over, so you can expect a slew of updates coming up!

This chapter focused more on the relationship between the characters - JB and Jiyeon, although happy and dating, are still a bit awkward, mostly because of the unsaid things and secrets between them. There's also a slow development of antagonistic friendship between Suzy and Jr - and honestly I think Suzy is a little pitiable. Sure, she's a mean but in truth, no one likes her, whereas others like Myungsoo and Jinwoon at least have their members who genuinely treat them as friends. 

And between Nana and Jiyeon - the big secret is finally going to be revealed! Who's excited? 

Next update should come in a few days - I'm trying to update my other stories first, so please be patient! And remember, comment and subscribe!