The doorbell rang, and there was a loud slam, as if someone had hit the door. A moment later, Eunjung's voice rang out, "Yah! Jiyeon! Are you here?"

JR rolled hisses, "Great. I bet all our neighbours know that we have T-ara's Jiyeon here now. I bet there's gonna be all sorts of rumours now."

"Like you're in any position to talk," JB called as he got up to answer the door, "What about the time you invited Ailee over, and then pissed her off so much she chased you out of the house screaming. That definitely alerted our neighbours. It was the middle of the night, too."

There was a pause as JR thought of what to say. Then he replied eloquently, "Oh, shut up."

The door opened, and JB's voice drifted in, "She's in my room, over there."

A figure barrelled into the room, throwing herself at Jiyeon. Jiyeon was nearly bowled over by Eunjung, who was hugging Jiyeon and demanding, "Are you all right? Nothing happened to you, right? Don't ever scare me like that again."

JR edged away, muttering something about crazy mother hens.

"What happened to you, Jiyeonnie? We were so worried about you when we couldn't reach you!" Soyeon scolded. Jiyeon looked slightly chagrined, "I'm sorry, unnie..."

Boram 'tsked', "So what happened to you, anyway? How did you end up here?"

There was a pause as Jiyeon's eyes flickered to JB, who was leaning against the door, his arms folded.

Eunjung caught the look and she spun around, furious, "Yah, Im Jae Bum! Did you do something to my maknae?"

JB blinked, startled. He lifted his hands, backing away at Eunjung's look of fury when JR broke in, "Yah, it was hyung who found Jiyeon and brought her back here so she wouldn't be harassed by those reporters! How ungrateful can you people get?"

Jiyeon tugged on Eunjung's sleeve, "Unnie, it's true. JB...he helped me a lot." She smiled at the younger idol, who grinned back, "My pleasure to be of service."

Eunjung sat back down, mollified, "Oh. Well, sorry about that. And thanks." The other T-ara members also murmured thanks to JB, who waved it away with a smile.

All of a sudden, Qri looked up, "Hang on, where's the Miss A members?"

JB's smile faded abruptly, "I asked them to wait outside. I figured it'll be better for you guys to talk to Jiyeon-sshi first."

"Let them in." Hyomin said icily, "We'll beat the crap out of that ." The two guys shifted uncomfortably at her words, and JR mouthed to his hyung, "Catfight."

JB shrugged and went to open the door. He returned, with the four Miss A members behind him. Jia and Fei looked visibly uncomfortable, Min was still seething, and Suzy now looked scared and a little nervous.

The moment they saw Jiyeon, Jia said, "Jiyeon-sshi, I'm really very sorry about what Suzy did to you. We swear, we had no idea what she was doing, else we would have stopped her at once."

There was a pause. Then Jiyeon nodded, replying softly, "I know. I know this isn't your fault; you don't have to apologise to me." <\p>

"It is our fault. For not keeping an eye on this woman." Min replied. She spun around to glare at Suzy, "Now you. Apologise."

Suzy stared down mutinously. Min took a step forward angrily, "Why you-"

"I have nothing to say, I'm not sorry. I love Myungsoo, and I'll do anything to be with him! Even if it means hurting others! And I won't apologise, because I just did what I had to to get Myungsoo, and that's not wrong!" Suzy retorted, tears coming to her eyes as she stared at Jiyeon.

There was a long, stony silence as everyone stared at Suzy in disbelief. Eunjung moved to slap the young girl, but JB's soft voice cut in, not angry, not upset, but merely emotionless and observing, "You may love him, but does he love you?"

There was a pause as Suzy stared at JB, stunned to see that he was on Jiyeon's side. JB shook his head as he continued, "He's only with you for the . I know Myungsoo, and I know he's not an idiot. And I also know what he's thinking. The only thing remotely attractive about you is your appeal, nothing else. I bet you've asked him to break up with Jiyeon before, and he's always refused right? Because he doesn't want to announce that you're his girlfriend. And do you know why?"  

JB waited. There was no response.

"Because you're a . You're a selfish, self-centred , and you're nothing compared to Jiyeon. Jiyeon is a million, no, a billion times better than you are. She won't hurt others just to fulfill her own desires. She won't make others suffer just to get what she wants. But you will. And you have. You think Miss A isn't going to get the backlash from this? You're gonna be bashed left, right and centre. But it isn't just you. Your members are going to be dragged into this as well. You're destroying your entire group's reputation. Just for yourself. And Jiyeon would never do that. She may be cold on the outside, but she's kind, she's thoughtful, and she'll never intentionally let anyone else get hurt because of her. That's why, no matter what happens, even if you end up fighting with Jiyeon for every single one of her future boyfriends, you'll always lose. Because no one wants a selfish little for their girlfriend, when Jiyeon is a much better choice. You may have a lot of guys coming to you for ual favours, but you'll never find someone who truly loves you, because no one will love a selfish like you."

A long silence followed JB's speech. Min was nodding vigorously, as were the T-ara members. Jia and Fei looked slightly stunned, as if surprised by JB's vehemence, while JR looked amused but also serious, as he recognised the truth in JB's words. And Jiyeon stared, wordlessly, at the rookie who had so fiercely defended her, and a warm feeling spread throughout her.

Suzy was staring down, the tears spilling over and trickling down her cheeks, completely unable to find a retort because she knew that JB's words were true. JR interrupted, his voice so cold, so different from his usual self that it hardly sounded like him at all, "If you're not going to apologise, get out. Don't dirty our house with your presence."

Suzy turned and fled, weeping. JR snorted, "Good riddance."

JB turned to the other miss A members, "You should follow her. In case she does anything foolish."

Jia and Fei nodded. The trio turned to leave the room, when Min stopped abruptly and turned to look at JB, "You looked really handsome back there, kiddo." She grinned, and then they were gone.

JB blinked. JR clapped his hyung on the back, "Not bad, hyung. You voiced my thoughts exactly! Looks like my intelligence is rubbing off you."

 JB rolled his eyes, "Give me a break, JR." He turned to face Jiyeon and her members, "You're feeling better now?"

Jiyeon nodded silently. She rose, "We should get going."

JB nodded, "See you at filming, then." He nodded at the other T-ara members, "See you guys."

As the T-ara members reached the door, Jiyeon abruptly turned back and called, "JB?"

JB turned, raising an eye.

"Thank you."

The JJProject leader just grinned, "My pleasure."

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

"I didn't realise you felt so strongly about Jiyeon." JR remarked, nudging his leader. JB frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I've never seen you act so vehement about your own affairs, let alone someone else's. I wonder..."

JB rolled his eyes, "Just spit out what you want to say, JR."

"You don't happen to have fallen for her, have you?"

JB paused. He stood stiff for a moment, silent and brooding. Then he gave a small laugh, "Even if I did, she wouldn't like me back."

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

"That kid is really nice, isn't he?" Hyomin remarked as the T-ara members got into their car. The others nodded in agreement, "He's from the same company as Suzy, and he had no qualms about scolding a sunbae because she was in the wrong. He's a good kid." Soyeon agreed.

Qri nudged Jiyeon, "I think he likes you."

Jiyeon blinked, startled, "What?"

"Seriously. I think he likes you. You should accept him. You can do much worse than him, and at least we know that he'll protect you. Plus, he's handsome, talented and smart. Not to mention you can show Myungsoo that you've gotten over him." Qri explained.

Jiyeon hesitated. Then she just remained silent, looking down.

It wan't that she didn't want to get over Myungsoo. She was angry at him, and she hated him for betraying her, for hurting her like this. And JB was a nice guy, and she really did like him a lot.

But.

But she could still remember the happy times that she has shared with Myungsoo. But she knew that her feelings for JB were only that of a friend, nothing more. But she knew that what she shared with Myungsoo was different from what she shared with JB. And she knew, that a part of her still loved the man known as Kim Myungsoo.

She couldn't forget him.

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

Here's the next chapter! My personal favourite so far~ how about you guys?

Suzy gets her comeuppance as she's forced to face the ugly truth of JB's words, and the T-ara members are all pretty satisfied. JB's a hero! XD. I loved his speech defending Suzy, because it's all true, and it shows how much he understands Jiyeon, even though he doesn't know her very well. And Jiyeon thinks of him as a friend too, so now they're real friends at last!

On a side note, I wanted to write Myungsoo into this chapter, but couldn't find a way to do it. And, yes, Jiyeon does still love Myungsoo, and no, she doesn't have feelings for JB. I think that feelings don't just develop so quickly, so right now Jiyeon really can'tforget Myungsoo. I really like the fact that JB also understands that part of Jiyeon, about how she isn't able to forget Myungsoo, and he doesn't push her. Now all that's left is for Jinwoon to crash this show!

So did you guys like this chapter? Remember, subscribe and comment!